Dev Patel loses out Oscar to Mahershala Ali

He was presented the ceremony’s first trophy by last year’s Academy Award victor Alicia Vikander.

He can also claim a monumental moment in Academy Awards history as the first Muslim actor, EVER, to win the award.

Ali’s milestone comes weeks after United States president Donald Trump attempted to block USA entry to citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations. You can check out his full speech below.

A first-time nominee, the 43-year-old actor saw off competition from Britain’s Dev Patel, veteran USA actors Jeff Bridges and Michael Shannon and newcomer Lucas Hedges, AFP reported. He changed his name from Gilbert to Ali after converting to Islam and is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. He also had a featured role in Hidden Figures which was also up for Best Picture and several other awards last night. “You are in service to these stories and these characters”.

“I just want to thank [my wife] for just being such a soldier through this process and for carrying me through it all”, the star said. “You can see the texture of that person, the qualities that make them unique, or you can go to war about it, say, ‘That person is different from me, I don’t like you, so let’s battle'”. “It’s not about you”, Ali said.

Along with director Barry Jenkins, Ali also thanked his wife, Amatus Sami-Karim who gave birth to their first child a mere four days ago.

Ali thanked his “many wonderful teachers” for a valuable lesson.

‘I’m even excited about being exhausted, ‘ Ali recently said regarding fatherhood during an interview in Santa Barbara a week after the SAGs. “But right now just taking it a day at a time and really enjoying the opportunities we get to share the film”.