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In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, former heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali paid a visit to New York City on September 20, and while he was there he offered some comments on Islam (his own faith) to reporters: Although during that visit Ali was indeed asked by a reporter how he felt about the [terrorist] suspects sharing his Islamic faith, he didn't respond by invoking the name of Adolf Hitler, as suggested in the example text above. Instead, he just offered a general comment about religion and people believing different things: The quip about Hitler and religion sounds like something the public would expect the pithy and pugnacious Ali (a long-time adherent and defender of Islam) to make, but although the boxer supposedly uttered it in the presence of multiple reporters, no one wrote about it at the time he allegedly said it. Only weeks later, long after the quote had been circulating online, did newspapers start mentioning it — and even then not as something one of their reporters (or anyone else's) had actually heard Ali say, but as something they had been told he said: Another case of someone's attributing a memorable but anonymous quote to the mouth deemed most likely to have uttered it. As a footnote, we should point out that the issue of whether or not Hitler was a believing Christian is still a subject of much debate.
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