: American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Muslim football league in Southern California is drawing complaints over team names like "Intifada" and "Mujahideen".\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Muslim football league in Southern California is drawing complaints over team names like "Intifada" and "Mujahideen".\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2003-12-08T07:05:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/muslim_football.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/\",\"name\":\": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2003-12-08T07:05:07+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2003-12-08T07:05:07+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"A Muslim football league in Southern California is drawing complaints over team names like \\\"Intifada\\\" and \\\"Mujahideen\\\".\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\",\"name\":\"Shahed Amanullah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shahed Amanullah\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron","description":"A Muslim football league in Southern California is drawing complaints over team names like \"Intifada\" and \"Mujahideen\".","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron","og_description":"A Muslim football league in Southern California is drawing complaints over team names like \"Intifada\" and \"Mujahideen\".","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/","og_site_name":"altmuslim","article_published_time":"2003-12-08T07:05:07+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/muslim_football.jpg"}],"author":"Shahed Amanullah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shahed Amanullah","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/","name":": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website"},"datePublished":"2003-12-08T07:05:07+00:00","dateModified":"2003-12-08T07:05:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945"},"description":"A Muslim football league in Southern California is drawing complaints over team names like \"Intifada\" and \"Mujahideen\".","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/american_muslim_football_an_intifada_on_the_gridiron\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":": American Muslim Football: An Intifada On The Gridiron"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/","name":"altmuslim","description":"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics & culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945","name":"Shahed Amanullah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6c9ebfb8c37dbc2e9865b291bbaeff08?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shahed Amanullah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/author\/shahedamanullah\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/530"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

<\/div>\n

<\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Football \u2013 it\u2019s as all-American as apple pie, large SUVs<\/a>, and invading<\/a> third world countries. And in addition to keeping couch potatoes firmly planted in front of their large-screen TVs, it\u2019s also a great way to keep young people off the streets and out of trouble. So who could complain when a flag-football league<\/a> of American Muslims organizes a New Year\u2019s football tournament to showcase the best of local Muslim athletic talent? Well, when you have team names<\/a> that include \u201cIntifada\u201d and \u201cMujahideen\u201d and feature logos of sword-wielding warriors, some people can get the wrong idea. \u201cI think they should be more sensitive and show respect to other people\u2019s sensitivities,\u201d said Muzammil Siddiqi<\/a>, director of the Islamic Society of Orange County and a national Muslim leader. \u201cThe words themselves do not have bad meanings, but people associate them with what\u2019s going on in the world around them.\u201d Others say that macho team names are all a part of the sport. \u201cIt bothers me<\/a> a little bit,\u201d said Sabih Khan, an 18-year-old former high school football player and co-founder of the eight-team league. \u201c[But] they were just trying to be cool.\u201d 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. \u201cA lot of the kids on our team are from Palestinian origin,\u201d said Tarek Shawky, Intifada\u2019s 29-year-old captain and quarterback. \u201cWe are in solidarity<\/a> with people in the uprising. It\u2019s about human rights and basic freedoms.\u201d With political sensitivities driving name changes for violent or racist team names in American sports (for example, the Washington Bullets changed their name<\/a> to the Wizards in 1997), local Muslim leaders are frowning on the names, although they say that there is nothing sinister about them. \u201cThey tend to be a little more on the emotional side,\u201d said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the CAIR\u2019s Southern California office of the team names. \u201cThey look for something that will raise eyebrows.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"