Combining athletics with religion tries limits of body

Tuesday, January 19, 1999

Combining

athletics with religion tries limits of body

COLUMN: Ramadan tests Muslim endurance, piety in professional
sports

Eid Mubarak. Today marks the end of the Islamic holy month of
Ramadan. Ramadan is the month where Allah revealed the Quiran to
Prophet Muhammad. Eid-Ul-Fitr was the day that the revelations from
Allah to Prophet Muhammad became complete.

During this historic month, Muslims fast from sunrise till
sunset. Not too arduous of a task during December since the days
are short.

Yet, the month of Ramadan is on the Islamic calendar and is
equivalent to 11 months. So several years ago, the month of Ramadan
was during the summer, provided Muslims to go without food or water
for durations of 15 hours.

A challenging responsibility in itself – but how would an
athlete respond?

As the Muslim population increases at a faster rate than
Christianity or Judaism in America, the influence by Muslims on
athletics has also risen.

Nowadays, Muslims participate competitively in nearly every
sport, from football and boxing they dominate, namely basketball
and distance running.

How could a Muslim athlete remain competitive vs. a non-Muslim
athlete during the holy month of Ramadan?

Most would think that the Muslim would either be markedly worse
or would try to bypass the fasting. However, both of these
statements are wrong.

The best example of performance while fasting was by Hakeem
Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets. While his squad entered the NBA
playoffs several years ago, the month of Ramadan began.

Olajuwon, being a devout Muslim, started fasting and his team
surged rather than faltered.

He would begin his fast before sunrise and would attempt to end
them after sunset. His team, however, was playing games that
coincided with the end of his fast.

Therefore, Olajuwon would fast through the games’ halftime; he
would eat, hydrate himself and do prayer during halftime, and
return to lead his team in scoring and rebounding.

The Houston Rockets went on to repeat as NBA champions.
Impressive? Definitely.

There have been other Muslims who have excelled in the
professional ranks of basketball, namely Shareef Abdur-Rahim and
Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.

Other noted examples have come from the running world, where
Muslim athletes are more prominent than ever.

From world record holders Nourrendine Morceli and Hicham
El-Guerrouj, Muslims have been nearly invincible in the longer
distances.

But how could a runner perform without food or water? How could
he run competitively against other renowned runners? How could he
possibly break a world record?

Those questions are echoed by many and answered by few.

Morceli and El-Guerrouj hold the mile (3:43) and 1,500-meter
(3:26) world records respectively. A 3:43 mile? Incredible.

How about El-Guerrouj winning nearly every European track
circuit 1,500-meter race while fasting? Not bad.

We’ve seen Muslim athletes who have dominated boxing, such as
Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. At UCLA, we have one of the top soccer
players in the Pac-10 in Sommer Hammoud and tennis player Hassan
Akmal – athletes in every sense of the word.

It’s not just about going without food and water for a long
time. It is becoming closer to God and having the mental strength
to know that you can succeed.

I try to follow their examples while fasting, as I push myself
to play basketball on the Rieber courts and to run on the track
during the day. But pickup games and running six-minute miles are
far from the performances of the professional Muslim athletes.

I’m still trying to perfect that fadeaway and that mile time.
Maybe next Ramadan.

Salahuddin would like to give a shout out to "the girly crew of
H22" and D-214. If you would like to find out more information
about Islam, e-mail him at [email protected].

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