When Mohammad Ali, the boxing legend, refused to pick up the Gun

New Delhi: He was born Cassius Clay, but is known as Muhammad Ali, a name he adopted after converting to Islam.Mohammad Ali had refused to take part in the Vietnam War. 'War is against the teachings of the Holy Qur'an,' he said. 'I'm not trying to dodge the draft. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger. We don't take part in Christian wars or wars of any unbelievers.'He was banned from sport between 1967 and 1971. When he failed to enlist on April 28, 1967, he was not only arrested, but had his boxing license suspended and his title stripped. Initially a Houston, Texas court found him guilty of violating Selective Service but the U.S. Supreme Court overruled that decision in 1971 and Ali was free to enter the ring again. Ali never had to serve jail time, but he still wasn't allowed to fight between 1967 and 1971. Instead he spent those years at the height of the civil rights movement speaking at colleges and universities. He never regretted his decision to stand up for what he believed in. 'I'm happy cause I'm free,' he told Time magazine in 1968. 'I've made a stand all black people are gonna have to make sooner or later - whether or not they can stand up to the master'. When the boxer was still banned from boxing but continuing to command the attention of Americans across the country. Watch more rare images.