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Watch the ball, not my body<\/div>\n

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

She just wanted to be a tennis pro. 18-year old Sania Mirza<\/a>, a Muslim from Hyderabad, India, has fought her way<\/a> to the top of the tennis world, moving from 326th to 34th best woman player in the world. She recently became the first Indian woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, only to lose<\/a> to #1 player Maria Sharapova. But her rise in the rankings has been met with both pride<\/a> and consternation<\/a> from her co-religionists in India. The problem<\/a> stems from Mirza\u2019s conforming to the standard women\u2019s tennis uniform, which (along with multiple ear and nose piercings) is decidedly more revealing that standard Muslim women\u2019s attire. The Sunni Ulema Board called Mirza a \u201ccorrupting influence\u201d that is \u201cbringing shame to Islam,\u201d and the Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Hind<\/i> stated ominously that Mirza would be \u201cstopped from playing\u201d if she did not wear \u201cproper clothes\u201d \u2013 a statement that resulted in Mirza taking up bodyguards<\/a> at a recent match in Calcutta. But other (and larger) Muslim groups are rallying to Mirza\u2019s side. \u201cWe are proud of what Sania Mirza has achieved in her career so far,\u201d said Syed Nizamuddin of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (previously known for attempting to reform India\u2019s triple talaq<\/a> divorce codes). \u201cNot a single reputed religious leader anywhere in the country has issued any fatwa against her.\u201d Other groups, such as the Muslim Council of Bengal<\/a> (\u201cThe thought of issuing a fatwa has never crossed our minds\u201d) and the Tamil Nadu Muslim Women\u2019s Jamaat Committee, also threw their support behind Mirza. Mirza-mania has even reached such a fever pitch among India\u2019s Muslims that a required-reading chapter of Mirza\u2019s accomplishments was proposed<\/a> for a network of 285 madrassas<\/i> in the state of Chhattisgarh (the proposal, which called Mirza \u201ca Muslim role model,\u201d was withdrawn after threats<\/a> on the authors). Mirza, while tired of the attention her attire has attracted, is using it to get the last word<\/a>. At Wimbledon, she wore a t-shirt that read, \u201cWell Behaved Women Rarely Make History,\u201d and she wore one at the US Open that read, \u201cYou Can Either Agree With Me \u2013 Or Be Wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

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