“We had Allah with us,’’ says Eoin Morgan following a thrilling victory over New Zealand in World Cup 2019 final earlier in July. Maybe he had a reason for believing in Arabic God on that lucky day. “I spoke to Adil and he said Allah was definitely with us,’’ added the Irish-born captain who belongs to a moderate Christian family. It’s relevant to mention that two Muslim players, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, have been the part of England-XI for this mega event. For that reason, Morgan admired Allah as a nice gesture to his Muslim teammates!

England’s Muslim duo poses with the ICC World Cup following a dramatic victory

Muslims living in secular countries often complain about the discriminatory treatment they name it ‘Islamophobia’. That ‘Pro-Islam’ statement indeed was a clear message to the ‘Islamophobes’. Racism and intolerance do exist all over the world, but many civilized nations highly discourage it by providing people equal opportunities and respecting cultural diversity. Inclusion of players from diverse cultures in sports is one of the many ways to confront racism.

Equal Opportunities: Islamic States vs. Secular World:

At least 6 Muslim cricketers played for 4 non-Muslim nations in the recent ICC World Cup 2019. However, only 2 non-Muslims had been the part of this mega event representing Bangladesh, a Muslim state. Here’s the list of top Muslim cricketers who have represented different non-Muslim countries in the last 5 years:

The top Muslim cricketers of non-Muslim teams in the last 5 years

It is also noteworthy to mention that many Muslims playing for foreign teams belong to conservative immigrant backgrounds with strict Islamic lifestyle. The recent viral videos of English Muslim duo running away from champagne celebration and Moeen Ali not making eye contact with a female news reporter are enough to prove that Islam means a lot to them. South African cricketers Hashim Amla and Imran Tahir had refused to wear a jersey with Castle Lager (South African Breweries) logo because it’s ‘Haram’ (forbidden) in Islam.

Most of the Muslims playing for foreign teams belong to conservative immigrant backgrounds

Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are the top 3 Muslim teams but Bangladesh is the only nation to select some non-Muslim players for last few years including all-rounder Soumya Sarkar and wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar Das. Also, 4 best Muslim players representing Australia, England and South Africa are of Pakistani origin. On the other hand, the “Land of Pure” has unofficially become the Muslim’s only cricket team without giving any non-Muslim player a chance to join Pakistan-XI.

Bangladeshi non-Muslim players: Batsman Liton Kumar Das (left) & All-rounder Soumya Sarka (right)

Former test cricketer Nasseer Hussain is a famous British Muslim who captained team England between 1999 and 2003. Jason Muhammad, a West Indian Muslim batsman was also made the team’s captain in 2017.

England only has 5% Muslim population and the same percentage of non-Muslims live in Pakistan. Although at least 7 minority cricketers have indeed played for Pakistan but it was only possible before ‘Islamization’. Yousuf Youhana (Christian) and Danish Kaneria (Hindu) were the last two non-Muslim cricketers to have played for this country. In 2005, Youhana was converted to Islam to become Muhammad Yousuf and Kaneria was banned for life following spot-fixing allegations in 2010. Minority players representing the Pakistani team has now become a thing of the past.

Youhana was a minority cricketer until 2005 when he embraced Islam to become Muhammad Yousuf

Danish Kaneria faced life time ban following spot-fixing allegations in 2010

Chairman Pakistan Cricket Board had claimed that there’s no discrimination against any non-Muslim player in PCB. The reality nonetheless is entirely different. In November 2016, a teenager Mahinder Pal Singh made his way to the top-30 emerging young cricketers’ list. Pakistan’s first Sikh cricket player was hopeful to wear a green cap but his dream never came true. We never heard of Pal Singh again until 2018 when he expressed his interest in playing Pakistan Super League. PCB introduced this T-20 cricket league in 2016 but none of the 4 seasons has ever seen a single minority player in any of the 6 PSL teams. All the non-Muslim players in PSL matches were from foreign nations with 100% Pakistani Muslims which is enough to burst the bubble of PCB’s ‘equal opportunities for all’ claim.

Mahinder Pal Singh was hopeful to wear a green shirt but his dream never came true

Cricket isn’t the only game and Pakistan is not the only Muslim nation which discriminates minority players for their religion. Non-Muslim athletes face the same discriminatory treatment in Football, Hockey and other sports in Iran, Turkey, Malaysia, and Arab nations too. Where the famous Muslim sportsmen like Mohamed Salah and Karim Benzema are working hard to combat ‘Islamophobia’, seeing a minority player representing a Muslim nation remains a rarity.

Why don’t we see minority athletes in Muslim teams?

Muslims always want to receive equal treatment in secular countries but they don’t treat the minorities well in Islamic states. Intolerance and discrimination have their roots in Islam and the cultures of conservative Muslim societies.

The Holy Quran has some verses which prohibit the believers to make friendly relations with people of other religions: “O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another. And whoever is an ally to them among you — then indeed, he is [one] of them. Indeed, Allah guides not the wrongdoing people.” [Quran, 5:51]

And there’s another one, “O you who have believed, do not make allies of a people with whom Allah has become angry. They have despaired of [reward in] the Hereafter just as the disbelievers have despaired of [meeting] the inhabitants of the graves.” [Quran, 60:13]

Some progressive Muslims may come up with a more lenient interpretation of the above-mentioned controversial verses but when it comes to Hadith, it becomes really difficult to represent Islam as a tolerant and peaceful religion: “Do not keep company with anyone but a believer and do not let anyone eat your food but one who is pious.” [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi, 2395].

Islam conditionally allows its followers to have a ‘friendly relation’ with a nonbeliever only if one can convert him/her to Islam. Reading this Islamic question answered by a Mufti will give you a clearer picture of this (in)tolerant religion.

Source: PEW Research Center

Besides having thousands of Madrassas (strict Islamic seminaries), learning the Quran is also made compulsory in all the public schools in Pakistan. Once you teach your young children to hate nonbelievers, they may never stop discriminating them for rest of their lives. A PEW research center’s survey reveals that the majority of Muslims have all or most of their close friends from the same religion (Islam). The trend is not only prevalent in Muslim majority nations but also countries with considerable non-Muslim populations. For example, non-Muslims make up around 40% of the total population in Lebanon, but more than 94% of Muslims would prefer to have a Muslim as their close friend. The situation is much worse in Pakistan where only 2% of people are okay with having a non-Muslim friend.

Pakistani players offering group prayer in cricket ground during an international match

Most of the non-Muslims, particularly those of low-income class, live in isolated towns in Pakistan. They are segregated from Muslim majority; don’t have access to healthcare, education and recreational facilities in their shantytowns. Underprivileged non-Muslims usually quit school after getting primary education. Even if by any chance, a talented minority student reaches the high school or college, he often struggles to socialize. The Muslim majority would normally reject someone who doesn’t believe in any religion but Islam. This discrimination commonly happens everywhere in Pakistan and cricket is no exception.

Former Pakistani Cricketers Inzamam-ul-Haq (left) and Misbah-ul-Haq (right) are the strict practicing Muslims

Getting back to the subject; Islamization in Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) began in the 1980s which is mainly responsible for religious discrimination. Religion is no more a player’s personal belief, now Islam is being enforced in cricket. They aggressively show off Islam by performing Sujood after victory and offering group prayers (Namaz) every day on cricket grounds. This Islamized culture makes it nearly impossible for a minority player to wear a green jersey and feel confident.

De-Islamizing Cricket is the need of the hour:

We need to change this by providing non-Muslims equal opportunities. Public awareness is needed at grassroots level to treat minority groups as normal human beings. The government should stop supporting religious fanatics and Islamists officials should be kicked out of PCB. Only then we’ll see talented players from diverse cultures representing cricket teams of Islamic states. Play cricket as a game of gentleman, don’t mix religion with sports. Select athletes for how well they play, not for how they pray!