CALGARY -- Muhammad Ali will be honoured in a public ceremony at a Calgary mosque today.
The boxing legend converted to Islam in the mid-1960s, changing his name from Cassius Clay.
The Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, a group of Canadian imams, is planning the memorial.
It says its executive council held an emergency meeting on Friday night following the news that Ali died at the age of 74.
The council says Ali was "a great ambassador of Islam" and offered condolences to Ali's family, friends and fans around the world.
They say he was not just a boxing champion -- he was a true fighter for human rights and social justice.
"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.
"He was a huge inspiration for all Muslim especially youth and a true defender of Islam,"
The council said everyone is welcome at the memorial service
