Ali before he was Ali (4)
I believe the answer is:
clay
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">ali before he was ali</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for clay that I've seen before include "Earth for pottery" , "Tenacious ductile earth" , "Brick/pottery substance" , "Material used for bricks, ceramics etc" , "Court surface" .)