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| “ | You know that drug addicts don't reach out for help unless there's no options. | ” |
| — Ali to Rue[src] | ||
Ali Muhammad,[3] born as Martin, is a recurring character in the first and second seasons of Euphoria. He is portrayed by Colman Domingo.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Ali, born Martin, originally came from a home that was ridden with domestic abuse, and addiction. His father often would drink and beat his mother vicariously. As a result, Ali himself turned to alcohol and drugs as a means to cope with his rough home life. Later on, as time passed he eventually got a job as a firefighter as well as a wife of his own and two daughters. The issue of substance abuse was continually brought up in the household during their marriage, which later led him and his wife to have volatile arguments and even became physical at times. One time, he lashed out at his wife in front of his daughters. One of them, Marie, deeply resents him for his actions and avoids all contact with him, forbidding him from seeing his grandson, Rashad. This instance has deeply affected Ali, and as a result, he recognizes the issues drugs can have on not only the users but others as well. After getting a divorce, and losing his job, he decided to go to rehab, converted himself to Islam, and changed his name to Ali, a name that is more traditionally Islamic as a way to get a fresh new start in his life.
Season 1[]
Stuntin' Like My Daddy[]
Ali introduces himself at an NA meeting that Rue Bennett also attends. He speaks about his former occupation as a firefighter, justifying his drug use under the heroic nature of his job. He then speaks about how he lost his two young daughters to due to drug addiction.
Special episodes[]
"Trouble Don't Last Always"[]
Ali spends an evening talking about addiction with Rue Bennett. He cuts through her initial lies about having found "balance", focusing single-mindedly on her sobriety. After discerning that she's high at this very moment, Rue eventually reveals that without drugs she probably would have killed herself long ago, being unable to control her "racing" emotions without them. Ali appreciates her honesty, but insists she take him seriously before he continues. He speaks about his own history of addiction, his many years clean, even his conversion to Islam; apparently, his name was Martin before he converted and changed his name.
| “ | You think you out here fighting a revolution, and Bank of America’s on your side? Give me a fucking break. | ” |
| — Ali[src] | ||
Rue herself angrily rejects his religious teachings, so he changes the subject to the state of Black America, and corporate America's feigned support of racial justice. He speaks of revolutions that happen so fast that they forget to actually change anything for the better, so fervent is everyone to move on to the next revolution. Having described addiction as a disease earlier, he ties in White America's view of addiction as a weakness to the current state of affairs, and earnestly insists that genuine change can only come from a revolution that incorporates spirituality.
Ali then goes outside to call his family, and nearly cries as the phone continues to ring, but at the last moment someone picks up. He's overjoyed and sends his well-wishes to his estranged family, although he has to modulate himself, since some of his family don't want to hear from him. Even so, he ends the phone-call happier than usual this Christmas, and goes back inside to talk with Rue. He tells her that he has faith in her, that she can clean herself up, and that severing her relationship with Jules Vaughn might be necessary to get clean. At her request, he tells her about his own run in with drugs driving him to beat his own wife — something his father had done, and that he swore he would never emulate, only to follow in his father's footsteps.
At the end of the conversation, Rue laments that the world is just so "ugly" that "[I] don’t wanna be a part of it". Ali counters by asking her how she wants her mother and sister to remember her, and, crying, she says she wants to be remembered as someone who tried to be someone she couldn't be. Ali cheers her with a joke, and again reiterates his faith in her ability to help herself, and the conversation ends as they drive away in Ali's truck.[2]
Relationships[]
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Physical appearance[]
He is an African-American man, with short black hair and a shorter-sized beard. In all of his appearances he can be seen wearing a black kufi cap.
Ali religiously identifies as a Muslim. It was revealed in episode 9 that his name, prior to Ali, was Martin - but he decided to pick a more traditionally Islamic name later on in his life.
Appearances[]
| Euphoria: Special Episodes | |||
| Trouble Don't Last Always | Fuck Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob | ||
Quotes[]
| “ | God doesn’t care if you don’t believe in him, but he believes in you. | ” |
| — Ali to Rue[src] | ||
Trivia[]
- Ali has two daughters, Imani and Marie. Zendaya plays the titular role of Marie in Sam Levinson's Malcom & Marie, released in 2021.
Gallery[]
- See also: Category:Images of Ali Muhammad
References[]
- ↑ Ali is 54 years old in the first season of Euphoria, which takes place in 2018. 2018 minus 54 equals 1964, so he would have been born in or around 1964.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Trouble Don't Last Always"
- ↑ The Euphoria Books: S1 Boxed Set