WeeklySA_AdminTHE GREATEST: As the United States honours Muhammad Ali with a Forever Stamp, the Muhammad Ali Index takes its boldest step yet — expanding across America and naming Sharjah as its first international city partner…
By WSA Sports Reporter
The legacy of Muhammad Ali has entered a powerful new chapter — one that moves beyond championship belts and iconic fights to place compassion at the heart of his enduring global influence.
This week, as the United States marked what would have been Ali’s 84th birthday with the release of a Forever Stamp, the Muhammad Ali Centre announced a major national and international expansion of the Muhammad Ali Index, a pioneering research-and-action platform measuring compassion in everyday life.
In a landmark development, Sharjah has been named the Index’s first international city partner, signalling the start of its global rollout. The partnership will launch formally on February 4 through a multi-year collaboration with the United Arab Emirates’ American University of Sharjah, positioning the emirate at the forefront of global compassion research.
Originally launched in 2025 as a 12-city pilot across the United States, the Muhammad Ali Index combines original research, AI-powered tools and a proprietary Net Compassion Score to assess how trust, dignity and human connection are experienced on the ground. In 2026, the Index will expand to 20 US cities, while Sharjah becomes the first city outside America to produce its own Ali Compassion Report.
For Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, the expansion reflects the true essence of “The Greatest.”
“Muhammad believed that how we treat one another matters — especially when it’s hard,” she said. “Compassion wasn’t a slogan for him; it was how he lived. Through the Muhammad Ali Index, we’re carrying that legacy forward in a way that helps people live compassion, not just admire it.”
The timing is deliberate. According to the Index’s 2025 Compassion Report, 61% of people believe compassion is in decline, yet nearly half remain hopeful it can be rebuilt — a gap the Index aims to close through evidence-based insight and local action.
Sharjah’s leadership believes the partnership aligns naturally with its long-standing investment in education and culture. Her Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi described the initiative as treating compassion “with the same seriousness as economic and social development,” while AUS Chancellor Dr Tod Laursen said the project would translate values into credible, globally comparable insight.
Compassion across cultures
In the United States, the Index’s expansion adds Houston, Philadelphia, Charlotte, Columbus, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Boston and Washington, DC to a growing network of cities committed to strengthening social trust at a time of deep division.
Alongside the launch, the United States Postal Service has released the Muhammad Ali Forever Stamp, commemorating a life defined not only by sporting excellence but by moral courage — from his refusal to fight in Vietnam to his lifelong advocacy for dignity, faith and service.
For Simon Cohen, Chief of Compassion at the Muhammad Ali Centre, the message is unmistakable: “Ali showed the world that greatness isn’t about who we knock down, but who we lift up.”
Once feared for his fists and revered for his footwork, Muhammad Ali is now being measured by something even more enduring — his ability to inspire compassion across cities, cultures and continents.
