Cricket and Islam: A Brewing Controversy

Posted on October 22, 2006
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Religion, Sports
131 Comments
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Adil Najam

According to a Reuters report (CricInfo version here) Pakistan cricket players have “been advised to strike a balance between religion and cricket.” This according to Dr. Nasim Ashraf, the new Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

The report goes on to say:

Since last year, the Pakistan team has made it a point to pray in public and hold religious gatherings in team hotels. Ashraf said in a television interview he did not believe there was any connection between Maulvism, ultra orthodox Muslims, and cricket. “There is no doubt their religious faith is a motivating factor in the team. It binds them together. But there should be balance between religion and cricket,” Ashraf said.

Captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who converted to Islam from Christianity earlier this year and former leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed have been in the forefront of projecting a religious image of the team. Ashraf said he had no problems with the players saying their prayers regularly but he had told Inzamam that Islam does not allow the imposition of views on others.

“I have told him clearly that there should be no pressure on players who don’t pray regularly or any compulsion on them to do it under pressure,” he said. “I have told him there should be no perception among players that if they don’t pray they will not be in the team… He has assured me there is no pressure on anyone to do anything they don’t want to do. I have also told him players should get proper rest for their cricket,” Ashraf added.

The report does not come as a surprise (click on image to see story from Jang, 9 October), but it is still a bit of a shock.

I do not like the word ‘Maulvisim’. I do not know what it means, and whether that was the intent or not, it is likely to be seen as a slur and a coded attack. I worry greatly these days about an increasing tendency to use polarizing language, the use of which can only spell trouble in an already much-fractured society. I am hoping that it is a word coined by an over-eager Reuters reporter and not Dr. Nasim Ashraf.

I should add that I have known Doctor Sahib for some years. I know that personally he is a man of strong personal faith and religious conviction and for that reason alone I think he would be well suited to have discussions with the team on these issues in ways that others might not be able to. But such discussions are intensely personal and should remain private (but not secret). Please note that I am not calling for secrecy, but I do not think that Reuters wire services or television airwaves are the best medium for this conversation. I fear that in the glaring lights of the media circus , this important conversation will necessarily become polarized, simplistic, and accusatory and will degenerate towards crass finger-pointing, self-righteous chest-thumping, and loud but hollow sloganeering.

I should thank Adnan Siddiqi’s blog (here) for first alerting me to this brewing controversy. Since then I have tried to keep a tab on this issue. Today, Teeth Maestro also has a commentary on his blog (here). My own views on this stem from the very same logic that had influenced my views on the story about Habib Bank requiring employees to trim their beards which I had commented on in the very earliest weeks on this blog (here). The parallels between the two are strikingly similar, but so are the principles:

  • First, no one has the right to restrict anyone’s else’s right to personal expressions of belief and faith, no matter what that belief or faith might be.

It would be wrong, therefore, if PCB, ICC, or anyone else were to restrict the expression of personal faith by any set of players. Whether it is saying one’s prayers in public and in jamaat or growing a beard, that is a matter of personal choice. One’s inclusion in the team should not be a matter of whether one has (or does not have) facial hair. It should depend solely and only on one’s cricketing abilities. Despite the headline statement, a careful reading of the news item above suggests that the PCB is acknowledging that faith is a key “motivating factor” for this team and is not asking anyone to either restrict their beliefs or the expression of those beliefs. If it were ever to do so, it would be a matter of grave and serious concern indeed.

  • Second, and relatedly, no one has the right to impose their own religious beliefs on others through direct or indirect pressure.

It would be wrong, therefore, if senior players were somehow pressurizing or forcing teammates to adopt a particular behavior. To repeat what I have already said above: One’s inclusion in the team should not be a matter of whether one has (or does not have) facial hair. It should depend solely and only on one’s cricketing abilities. A careful reading of the news item above makes clear that Inzimam, at least, understands that there should be (and is) no such pressure. If any players were ever to feel pressurized by the religious beliefs of their team-mates or were made to feel that their continued inclusion in the team would depend on their praying habits (rather than their playing abilities), then – and only then – it would be a matter of grave and serious concern indeed.

My only hope right now is that the media circus – in Pakistan and abroad – will not sensationalize this important issue and force even greater fissures and polarizations than already exist. I fear that this hope will not be realized.

But let me also say that I have much greater confidence in Inzimam, his teammates and Dr. Nasim Ashraf and pray that they will resist the media’s provocations and will refuse to fall into petty bickering or sloganeering opportunities.

131 responses to “Cricket and Islam: A Brewing Controversy”

  1. Mast Qalandar says:

    Ahsan,

    [quote comment]
    “It will be illogical to blame the Muslims for their failure and applaud Islam for their success.”
    [/quote]

    It is a very interesting and thought provoking statement that you have made. But, you see, logic is not a popular subject.

  2. Adnan Siddiqi says:

    you came up with good examples but no this is not I’m getting agreed with you. I never said that success or failure is 100% dependant on “A”. I would certainly blame “B” if all all entitites from A1-Z1 associated with B fail to produce something good then definately “B” should be blamed. If even single or few groups doing best then credit does go to “B” institute and the teachers associated with the institute.

    [quote post=”376″]t will be illogic to blame the Muslims for their failure and applaud Islam for their success.[/quote]

    Problem with you is that you are assuming that Islam came in this just in 20th or 21st century and our ancestors had been following some other religion for last 1500 years. You would like to make a study of history first. If history proves that every single person associated with Islam is failed then your statment does hold wather otherwise it is just another assumption.

    -adnan

  3. Ahsan says:

    [quote comment=”5635″][quote post=”376″]Pakistani people are looking for motivation in Islam for every activity of life. If Islam could help, they would have been perfect human being by now[/quote]

    Ahsan maybe I was unable to comprehend then could you enlighten me that who’s being blamed here?[/quote]

    Dear Adnan,

    You did comrehend fully the above statement as you fully agreed to my earlier response to your question concerning MIT.

    If A is seeking help in B. It is entirely the responsibility of A to succeed or fail in his research. B is a source (book, university, religion, …) and is not taking any action in the failure or success of A. Thus when A fails, it is A to be blamed and in case of success it is again A to be congratulted.

    I guess you are more interested in Islam (B) and Muslim (A). If Muslims fail, all blame goes to them and not to Islam. On the opposite, if they succeed all merit goes to them and not to Islam.
    It will be illogic to blame the Muslims for their failure and applaud Islam for their success.

    Wish you the best.

    Ahsan

  4. Adnan Siddiqi says:

    @Longtimereader: Respected Uncle I wouldn’t deny you and infact I do realize that I did mistake to answer these offensive comments about a certain community. Like you, I have also been with this site since beginning and when Adil bhai discussed the diea of the site in one of the email then it made me cheerish as I was well aware of AN bhai;s skills through his PTV shows and his Nara of “Pakistaniat” Attracted me like Altaf Hussain’s nara of “Mazloomou ka saathi” attracted both jahil and so called educated urdu speaking class.

    I emailed Adil yesterday and expressed my views that his website is also being used to offend a certain community again and again and for me this is not new as I visit and participate in others forums as well and I have lost 80% interest from adil’s website which attracted me due to its uniqness.

    I agre with you that nobody could convert others and I think noone was actually trying to convert each other[atleast I wasn’t]. the thing which pisses me[or anyone] off that blaming entire community due to act of individuals, specially when they believe in theories borrowed by outsiders.

    Anyway, If my existance made you enough irritated then I’m sorry. I also realize that somethings re destined and we can’t change anyway. I hope Adil either will reconsider to shut this site or will rectify it by adding a criteria for some posts and make it different than already existing websits of lefts and rights and will clean the dirth and filth from the site. Till then I would certainly prefer to stay away from adil’s site or just visit silently and experience how a community keep bashing other community without having any idea about the filth they themselves spread in surroundings.

    @Adilbhai: Hope you would promote your definitin of “PAKISTANIAT” sooner or later to peple like my respected elder “longtime reader”.

  5. Khalid-s says:

    people on all sides of this shouting match, how many times do you have to repeat yourself before you realize that either no one listening or they just aren’tt and wont buy your point.

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