Religion should not be barrier between people and sports

The soccer mania in Kerala, ignited by the FIFA World Cup22 being held in Qatar, has attracted worldwide attention, with international media zooming their lenses on Malabar villages bustling with football-related activities. 

Huge cut-outs of players like Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar have appeared on waysides, and each match is dissected and discussed in tea shops, households, and classrooms. But sadly, a religious organisation in Kerala felt that it is an ‘overindulgence’ which is against Islamic principles. 

Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Qutba Committee, the organisation of qateebs who deliver sermons during Friday prayers in mosques, tried to pour cold water into the enthusiasm by saying the football fever should be discouraged. In a communiqué sent to the mosques under it, the Qutba Committee said the football craze is disrupting the five-time prayers of the believers, and the ‘hero-worship’ of the players is an unacceptable practice in Islam.

The issue was taken up by some other preachers as well, who termed football as a ‘meaningless game’ and went to the ludicrous extent of linking it with colonialism.

No one would question the Islamic preachers’ right to enlighten their followers about an issue they deem relevant. But the point is whether it is a healthy practice to portray the game as antithetical to Islamic sentiments.

Saudi Arabia did not have any problem declaring an official holiday when its team won the match against Argentina. The venue of the inauguration in Qatar reverberated with verses from the Quran, which stated that human beings were created from one male and one female. 

People of different nationalities, races, and religions throng the stadiums, which have become venues for celebrations of diversity. A young boy in a remote village in Kasaragod district in Kerala cries inconsolably when his favourite team is defeated. And, a little girl in Malappuram dares those who take jibes at her idol Messi. Such is the beauty of the game that has become a great unifying factor for humanity and a leveller of all discriminations.

Games and entertainments also are an integral part of life, and we need not create a necessary binary between religion and sports. Qatar ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani summed up the football spirit in his address at the inaugural function when he said: “How lovely it is that people can put aside what divides them to celebrate their diversity and what brings them together.”