Professional Sports & Muslim Women Athletes
By Shahid Athar
US

I do get occasional attacks from Islamophobic hate mongers and non-Muslims but to read a personal attack on me (Pakistan Link Oct. 14) by secularist Siddique Malik ( www.spreadfreedom.com ) was very amusing. His webpage is full of venom against Islam and Muslims. Instead of inviting others to Islam, he encourages his readers to “choose any religion they want to follow.”
He seems to have a very poor comprehension as in my article on Muslim female athletes I talked about the controversy between the All India Muslim Board and the Ulema of Luckhnow, Sania Mirza’s home town. He also did not understand the words “we men” which reflects a gender class and not one person. If he writes “We men who abuse women,” I would take it as a general statement and not that “he is beating up his wife and daughter.” By the way, I have never watched a tennis game of Sania Mirza in person or on television.
While I also love and would like to spread freedom, I believe his concept of freedom of speech is of relative value. While Islam bashers would attack Islam and Muslims under freedom of speech on their website, they won’t dare to do so against Israel and Jews for fear of being labeled as anti-Semitic. While they promote separation of religion and politics for Muslims, they say nothing against the unholy matrimony of evangelists with the Republican Administration. While on his webpage Mr Malik writes against treatment of Christians in Saudi Arabia, he says nothing about treatment of Muslims in Abu Gharib or the Gutunama Bay prison. He has duel standards.
To him spreading freedom may mean freedom to undress and spreading legs, while to believers it means freedom to cover up and lowering the gaze.


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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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