Some good news. By Elliott Cappell in the Jerusalem Post, with thanks to Sr. Soph:
In August of 2005, with the countdown to last summer's World Cup in Germany underway, three players from a well-known Saudi soccer club abruptly quit the team because of an anonymous fatwa, religious ruling, that led them to believe soccer was forbidden by religious law. One of those three, Majid al-Sawat, was later arrested while planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Iraq.As soccer is not just a sport, but also a social institution across the Arab world, many in the West are frightened by the power of a fatwa that can turn a professional athlete into a suicide bomber overnight.
However, a study released this month by PRISM, a Herzliya think-tank on Islamic social affairs, alleviates such fears. It reveals that radical fatwas on soccer have actually had a very limited effect on the Islamic world. According to the study's author, Moshe Terdman, "the popularity of the soccer game among the Arab and Muslim peoples, as well as among the radical Muslims themselves, keeps [the sport] alive and beats all the Islamist attempts to dissuade Muslims from watching or playing it."
"...many in the West are frightened by the power of a fatwa that can turn a professional athlete into a suicide bomber overnight."
This strikes me as a deceptive article. It implies that soccer is universally banned by Islamic hardliners, and that the popularity of soccer in the Muslm world is thus a sign of incipient moderation.
My understanding is that soccer is generally encouraged in Islamic countries. It is encouraged because it advances the cause Islam by providing physical conditioning to young Muslim males, in training to becoming proper Muslim jihadists. No fatwa is therefore needed to "turn soccer players into jihadists." By definition they are already jihadists.
"...One of those three, Majid al-Sawat, was later arrested while planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Iraq..."
Sounds about right:
One in three a suicide bomber, suddenly affected with SJS. 'Sudden Jihad Syndrome'- the inbred disease of every musulman...
Soccer is no cure, obviously not!
http://sheikyermami.com/2006/12/20/philistine-child/
ROTFL!!! My goodness!!
"One of those three, Majid al-Sawat, was later arrested while planning to carry out a suicide bombing in Iraq."
LOL!! It's so casual isn't it? Like saying someone in the UK was arrested for shoplifting or something.
From the rest of that article:
Let me give them some ideas for having an Islamic version of soccer. First of all, change the objective of the game to be opposite that of Infidels. Instead of attempting to score goals against the other team, score goals against your own team. Reverse the off-side rules, so that when under normal soccer a player is pulled offside, it's legal. Allow hands to touch the ball. You get the idea.Have Islamic soccer players practice and play that way. In international qualifying tournaments, keep doing that, so that the Islamic teams that play Infidel teams get quickly disqualified. That way, we can avoid the ugly spectacle of Islamic teams like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Tunisia surfacing at future World Cups.