Source: ssquires87 via Flickr
IN THE NEWS: Minnesota Vikings safety Husain Abdullah isn’t letting anything stop him from playing football, or better yet, he isn’t letting football stop him from practicing his religion.
From the Associated Press:
“I’m putting nothing before God, nothing before my religion,” Abdullah said. “This is something I choose to do, not something I have to do. So I’m always going to fast.”
The Vikings were concerned with Abdullah’s performance last season when he was fasting, but Abdullah attributed the dip in his performance to unrelated leg injuries. The Washington State alum played in all 16 games and led the team with 24 special team tackles his rookie year in 2008.
This time around, Abdullah has sought out the guidance of the team nutritionist and has a better grasp of his night-time meals. The Pomona, CA native has even got some of the Viking staff on board to join him. Head Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman is going to try it out for a day or two.
Though Coach Brad Childress passed, he believes his player has himself under control.
“I think we have our arms around it now and know when he is going to wake up and when he is going to eat and what we can pack on him before the sun comes up,” Childress said. “Last year he was shouldering it all by himself. He is playing well. He is a good special teams player. He’s interchangeable and can be in the emergency nickel situation because he is a smart guy. He’s got great football instincts. He is a guy you pull for.”
Abdullah’s brother, Hamza, is also a safety for the Arizona Cardinals and will observe Ramadan as well.
As noted in the AP article, German soccer officials worked with Muslim organizations to rule that players can skip their fasts if they are to perform under a contract that is their only source of income. Abdullah hasn’t taken any such pass, and is excited to show off his religion.
“I used to kind of keep it to myself,” he said. “But now I’m actually excited that Islam is getting some positive attention.”
His story has even picked up attention from venerable Yahoo! Sports Shutdown Corner blogger MJD.
Positive athletes like Abdullah can only help increase that positive attention.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Its always nice to read about a positive integration of religion and sports.
It is a nice article. I have one issue you just copied and pasted the article from the link. You are plagiarizing someone’s work.
You did not even change words from the orginal article:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Ramadan-means-no-water-during-workouts-for-Husai?urn=nfl-261068
My fault, I should have made it more explicit. Thanks for the feedback
It’s always nice to hear Muslim athletes showing Islam in a positive light, and finding a good balance between their faith and their profession. Very interesting article Umar, thanks for posting it because I would have never came across the source you sited on my own.
assalamualaikum,
how many muslim player in NFL? are they all fasting in ramadhan?
Alhamdulillah. good luck for u Husain and Hamza. may Allah bless u and ur family.