CAIRO – The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, a group of Canadian imams, will hold a special memorial on Sunday, June 5, to mourn heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali, remembering him as “a great ambassador of Islam.”

“I had a very brief interaction with Muhammad Ali when he attended a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in early 1990s,” Imam Syed Soharwardy, the council’s founder, said in a news release on Saturday, Huffington Post reported.

“He was a huge inspiration for all Muslim especially youth and a true defender of Islam,”

Battling Parkinson’s disease for more than 30 years, his death was confirmed by his family in a statement released, saying also that the family “would like to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers and support” and asked for privacy.

The funeral will take place in Ali’s home town of Louisville, Kentucky.

Named Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr after his father, the sporting champion, who died aged 74, reverted to Islam in 1964 and changed his name to Mohammad Ali, dubbing his former alias, Cassius Clay, “my slave name”.

Holding an emergency meeting on Friday, the council said Ali was “a great ambassador of Islam” and offered condolences to Ali’s family, friends and fans around the world.

The council said Ali was not only a boxing champion, but was “a true fighter for human rights and social justice.”

The council said everyone is welcome at the memorial service.