World Cup, Muslim players / celebrities

[Imran]

Assalamu alaikum,

I was enthralled by the World Cup this year, like many around the world... and when watching the finals I was pulling for France for one reason alone... my Muslim brothers: Zidane and Ribery.

I watched and cheered for both of them, almost with religious ferver just because I wanted a Muslim to be on top of the soccer world.

After all, Muslim celebs are hard to come by... and maybe it's better that way.

I'll take the example of my own home town... Tampa, FL. We've got the Buccaneers, a football team that's had quite a few Muslims play for them in the past. One of the players who is a practicing Muslim, he used to come to our Masjid for Jummah, and he put a VERY Muslim-sounding name out there in the public! And for the most part, he had a reputation of being a hard worker, great teamplayer, and a "character guy". Mashallah representing Islam so well... he was unfortunately traded to another team, and I was excited to hear his name on ESPN again, until I realized what they were talking about

Unforunately he was doing something that he should not have been doing... and with that, destroyed all the positive things people had to say about him, and the same way when he was doing good things and bringing pride to Islam in America, that came crumbling down as well.  May Allah (swt) guide myself and him to the right path, and forgive us all for our sins.

And Zidane, the most celebrated player of the World Cup this year. There were countless stories about him and his struggles. He was considered one of the best in the history of the game. And a storybook ending of his career... the final game of the World Cup, his final game. He was the team captain and had already scored one goal, barely missed another, and time was nearing the end to start penalty kicks, his specialty.

I do not know what happened on the field, I was not there... but in front of MILLIONS of people, he head-butted an opponent in the chest, in what appeared to be a violent, unneccessary, class-less act. My heart sunk. My newfound hero was gone. And my desire to watch the remainder of the game was extinguished. He was given a red-card and ejected, no... banished. Ending his career in such a shameful manner. Being humbled in front of the World.

At first, I was angry at him... for letting his anger get the best of him, for not completing that "fairy-tale ending", for letting down his team who had to play with one less player the remainder of the match, for letting down Islam, for letting me down.

And then I became angry at myself... for lowering my standards. I've got no aspirations to be an international soccer star, and he never asked to be a role model. Why did I allow myself to let him creep into my heart?

Who you pick as a role model guides your life in so many ways and this was a very stern reminder to me that I should be careful in who I choose. We are all humans, we all make mistakes, and may Allah (swt) forgive us all for that. But that does not mean we should not aspire to be flawless. We do not need current day Muslim celebrities to take on as role-models. We already have our role models, our Prophet (saw) and his companions. The Prophets in our Quran, Musa, Isa, Yusuf, Adam (AS), that struggled with real issues, not soccer, or football, or basketball. 

Of course there's Muhammad Ali, Hakeem Olajuwon who represented well for us, may Allah (swt) bless them for that, and forgive their sins as well. But are these the people our children should be looking up to?  I was reminded of the answer with the raising of one red-card today.