: American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron

Football – it’s as all-American as apple pie, large SUVs, and invading third world countries. And in addition to keeping couch potatoes firmly planted in front of their large-screen TVs, it’s also a great way to keep young people off the streets and out of trouble. So who could complain when a flag-football league of American Muslims organizes a New Year’s football tournament to showcase the best of local Muslim athletic talent? Well, when you have team names that include “Intifada” and “Mujahideen” and feature logos of sword-wielding warriors, some people can get the wrong idea. “I think they should be more sensitive and show respect to other people’s sensitivities,” said Muzammil Siddiqi, director of the Islamic Society of Orange County and a national Muslim leader. “The words themselves do not have bad meanings, but people associate them with what’s going on in the world around them.” Others say that macho team names are all a part of the sport. “It bothers me a little bit,” said Sabih Khan, an 18-year-old former high school football player and co-founder of the eight-team league. “[But] they were just trying to be cool.” While Khan has asked the teams to reconsider their names, the name of the Intifada team might be around as long as its Middle East namesake. “A lot of the kids on our team are from Palestinian origin,” said Tarek Shawky, Intifada’s 29-year-old captain and quarterback. “We are in solidarity with people in the uprising. It’s about human rights and basic freedoms.” With political sensitivities driving name changes for violent or racist team names in American sports (for example, the Washington Bullets changed their name to the Wizards in 1997), local Muslim leaders are frowning on the names, although they say that there is nothing sinister about them. “They tend to be a little more on the emotional side,” said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the CAIR’s Southern California office of the team names. “They look for something that will raise eyebrows.”

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.