The Guardian has published a report about a Tottenham Forest fan who converted to Islam after being the most hateful of him and the main reason for this transformation in a lengthy report on the life of the English fan, Ben Bird, and in which he recounted his complete transformation after following the Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah.
And revealed the English fan Ben Bird, the role of Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah in converting to Islam and how he gained confidence in himself, and said: "Mohamed Salah really inspired me how to rely on myself, which made me decide to declare my conversion to Islam, I am still the same person, but I learned a lot From him, and I hope to meet him one day, just shake hands with him and thank him for everything. "
He added: "My colleagues do not believe that I converted to the Islamic religion 100%, because I really did not change, but my heart has become more pure than before, I try to change from my habits during the games, I usually go to some nearby bars and I bet on some results but you return to There after the end of the games, and you realize that you lost a lot of your money, it is a bit difficult because you are used to such habits and is part of football for many people.
He continued his remarks: "My previous views on Islam were only reactionary and backward, and I am embarrassed at the moment when I remember what I thought, especially since I had a great hatred for Muslims. When I was in the sixth stage, I needed someone to blame for my misfortunes. Unfortunately, Muslims got the bulk of it, and there were some right-wing media that broadcast some propaganda messages against Islam. "
Mohammed Salah: A Gift from God
"Though those ideas that dominated me at that time, I didn't say them to any Muslim, because I didn't know anyone of them, but everything has changed because of the Middle East Studies diploma I got from the University of Leeds, There was a scientific thesis to be presented at the university, and I wanted to present something different, and my teacher suggested that I study the song of the Liverpool fans of Mohamed Salah in the games and the subject of my message, after my study and analysis of the song, I decided to name the letter (Mohamed Salah .. a gift from God), The theme was whether his performance with Liverpool would be able to fight those who distort the image of Islam in the OSA Western political and media ?! ".
He continued: "The song says Mohamed Salah, if he scored more goals I would be a Muslim like him too, which touched my heart, I was a bit afraid of the subject of the scientific message because I am a student with white skin may be at risk because of this because I am alien to that city after my move To her, the university gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of students from Saudi Arabia.
He added: "Mohamed Salah, the first Muslim I deal with through my letter, and I got to know the way he lives his life, how to talk to people, in one week he took a picture with a fan had broken his nose in order to catch him, I know very well that some of my players Other footballers may do it but now you expect it from a player like Salah.I met many Egyptian students at the university, when they found out that my research name was Mohamed Salah a gift from God.He talks about his song in Liverpool.He talked to me for hours about how awesome he was. He did for them, a million Egyptians invalidated their votes in the last presidential election to give it to e".
"One of the Egyptians I spoke to told me that what Mohamed Salah is doing is what a Muslim should be, because he follows Islam properly, he assured me that he would make people love Muslims again," he said. When Mohamed Salah scored I think he scored for his great faith, when he won the Champions League, I told my friend that it is a victory for Islam, after scoring every goal and showing the world an Islamic belief, how many people watch the English Premier League every week? Millions worldwide. ''
He added: "Mohamed Salah has shown me that you can be a natural person and a Muslim, if this is the right phrase I have to say, you can be a self-reliant person, he is a wonderful player, respected by everyone in the football community and preserves his religion, When people read the Koran or read about Islam, they see something different that is not always portrayed in the media, I am new to the community of Islam and still learn, because it is difficult to change your lifestyle.