Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson holds talks with Dr. Muhammad Al-Oqala, president of the Islamic University in Madinah. (AN photo by Yousuf Muhammad)

By YOUSUF MUHAMMAD | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jul 4, 2010 23:32 Updated: Jul 5, 2010 01:18

MADINAH: Former boxing champion Mike Tyson, who embraced Islam while serving a prison sentence in the 1990s, is on his first visit to the Kingdom to perform Umrah. He arrived in the holy city of Madinah on Friday to perform prayers at the Prophet’s Mosque.

While in Madinah, Tyson met Dr. Muhammad Al-Oqala, president of the Islamic University, who briefed the world heavyweight champion on the services being rendered by the university to students from across the world.

From Madinah, Tyson will travel on to Makkah to perform Umrah, press reports said. He will also visit Jeddah, Abha and Riyadh as part of his Saudi tour. His visit to Saudi Arabia was arranged by the Canadian Dawa Association (CDA) as part of visits it organizes for new Muslim celebrities to the Islamic sites in the Kingdom. Shazad Mohammed, president of CDA, was present at Prince Muhammad International Airport in Madinah to receive Tyson.

Mohammed, an ambassador of peace with the United Nations, said Tyson would be in the Kingdom for one week, visiting the holy places as well as important landmarks in the country and meeting with Saudi people to get to know their culture and traditions.