At a quaint Northbrook gym on a Friday evening, children with hopes of one day becoming the next greatest worked their way around a boxing ring, wearing gloves and practicing different moves with friends.
They were guided by the co-founders of the new Chicago Muslim Boxing Club, Zain Hussain and Saheed Lawal, for Muhammad Ali Day, an official holiday in Illinois since 2022.
In celebration of the Jan. 17 holiday, Ali’s birthday, some 200 people gathered at the Body By Khoshal training facility in Northbrook for an open-house-style event. With special guests like Maryum Ali, Muhammad Ali’s daughter, and Illinois Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid, Hussain said it was an honor to collaborate with the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition on the event.
Maryum Ali said watching the children in the ring reminded her of her father, who started boxing at age 12 after a chance encounter with a police officer who happened to be a boxing coach.
Hussain and Lawal took advantage of the space and equipment in Northbrook, spending hours with excited boys and girls of different ages eager to try on mitts, practice punches against pads and the heavy punching bag and work through different drills and footwork around the ring.
The friends were invigorated by the turnout and overall enthusiasm for boxing from children and adults alike. Hussain, of Chicago, said the event reminded him of why they started the club in August: “to bring boxing to the Muslim community” after identifying a need and realizing there was an interest in a healthier alternative to just hanging out.
“A lot of our events revolve around food and it’s all about sitting around and eating, which is great also,” said Hussain, 25. “Our food is great, but there weren’t really many active things that Muslim brothers and sisters could do.”
He said he also wanted the club to allow people, especially Muslims, a safe space where they aren’t worried about judgment and can learn a new skill. The club is free to join and beginner-friendly with optional advanced training.
While the name implies the club may be just for Muslims, that is not the case.
“We want Muslims and non-Muslims to come and understand boxing and how there are life skills to be learned through boxing that can be carried along in their everyday lives,” said Lawal, of Elk Grove Village.
He added that for non-Muslim members, the club is an opportunity to understand Islam better by being around and seeing Muslims in a different light.
For Maryum Ali, her father’s life was in service to speaking out against injustices so that future generations of not only Muslims, but all people, would find more acceptance and freedom.
“He loved all people. I saw him embrace all races, cultures, religions,” she said. “He loved his faith and loved to stand up for the Muslim struggle, especially after the discrimination he felt once he changed his name. Boxing gave him the platform to be heard.”
The club meets Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons at Northside Boxing and Fitness in Evanston, where Hussain said he has been going since fall 2022 and where he and Lawal met. The gym owner was “very open to us using the space,” Hussain said, at no cost to the boxing club.
So far, the club has over 30 consistent members, ranging in age from 16 to about 35.
Lawal, 24, said he started boxing in 2018 and “took it pretty seriously” but has been on and off since. Hussain was a longtime fan of boxing as a spectator and decided to pick it up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, starting with learning some basic techniques and drills in his basement.
“Boxing took me out of my comfort zone,” Hussain said. “Anyone who knows boxing knows it’s a very uncomfortable sport. Sparring with people you don’t know too well, getting hit, doing these high-intensity workouts where you’re pushing your body to the limit. It’s not comfortable, but I think that’s a good thing because it makes you stronger mentally and physically, and I love teaching the sport to others to help them realize that they can become better in life in general by trying something new.”
Lawal and Hussain lead the sessions, teaching the fundamentals they have learned over the years. Lawal said they will start a session with a dynamic warm-up, followed by some defensive drills, offense, transitioning between power shots and light shots and more.
“The foundation of the program is teaching them how to adapt to real-life situations where a punch is coming your way, you defend it and counter the punch,” both literally and metaphorically, Lawal said.
Lawal enjoys the high-intensity workout of boxing and said it’s a chance for him to “express power” that he can’t otherwise express.
“We want to allow people a creative space where they can express their feelings in a different way,” Lawal said. “A lot of people use boxing to express themselves in ways you can’t really do anywhere else.”
Besides expression and learning, the boxing club is meant to build a sense of community. Masab Bokhari, 24, said he heard about the club from Hussain and Lawal in the fall and was immediately interested, as he used to be “really into” boxing and mixed martial arts.
“I enjoy the sport overall and watching some of the best boxers like Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, just watching them and how they move and the dedication the sport requires I really appreciate,” Bokhari said. “The dedication that’s required also traverses past the realm of boxing and into your life in whatever you do whether it’s your job or trying to build a healthy habit. It really puts you in the mindset of self-discipline.”
He said boxing is also “really humbling and keeps me in check” as a reminder that many things are not as easy as they may seem.
Bokhari has been boxing regularly and said it’s “been nice as my end-of-the-week workout,” but more than that, he values the bonds he has made.
“You see people around your community, but having something like this where you can consistently find time to hang out and do a difficult thing together, I think that really forms a strong bond,” Bokhari said. “Not only is it boxing, but even afterward we’ll go eat together and just talk about life, if anyone is going through anything, we’ll discuss and have a little dialogue. During and even after boxing, we push each other to be better.”
