Pakistan to keep religion private

Its time someone said this,
This new chairman is all right actually

The new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman has told the national team to stop exhibiting religious beliefs in public.

Dr Nasim Ashraf is concerned about a perception that players will only be picked if they are devout Muslims.

And he has discussed the matter with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is currently serving a ban from the game.

"I have told him clearly that there should be no pressure on players who don't pray regularly or any compulsion on them to do it," Ashraf commented.

"He has assured me there is no pressure on anyone to do anything they don't want to do."

The importance of religion to the Pakistan team has grown in recent years.

And batsman Mohammad Yousuf, a former Christian, made headlines in 2005 when he revealed his conversion to Islam.

It resulted in him being publicly disowned by his mother, but he has been in prolific form for Pakistan since then.

"I had money and fame but I was restless," he explained.

"At the end of the day I would wonder what kind of a life this was. It was too superficial."

Ashraf said he accepted religious faith was a motivating factor for the national team.

"It binds them together - but there should be balance between religion and cricket," he added.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cri...tan/6072832.stm

Good move from Ashraf.

I've been impressed greatly by him so far.

This is good news.

Nobody should be forced to do anything and religion/namaaz should have ABSOLUTELY NO BEARING on whether or not you are selected.

Good move.

Religion and cricket are two completely different things - there should be no pressure on players to do what they do not want to do.

doesn't Dr. Ashraf know Kaneria's on the team already and he has no problems

How do you know he has no problems?

he has stated it numerous times on his website and his interviews

if he has issues with it ,you expect him to anounce it on national television ? ... he has no option but to say hes fine with it!

your point?

am not suggsting anything ...!

end of debat...........

man that is a big lie....to me it seems u r suggesting that danish has

problems in religeon but is afraid to admit it

thats what i thought

when there is truth..falsehood vanishes

good thing i am a detective workin with scotland yard

Dude, these relegiuos topic really bore me...I regret posting on this thread , so was only trying to close the debate...anyways wat I meant was there is no way to know weather danish has problems or not like abdul was saying with confidence..may be he has problems ,may be not !

this is utter bull crap from this new ceo....first he handled the doping stuff the wrong way by disclosing asif and akthar names....even though thats against the ICC rules....and then he goes on and says this....salah ARMY ka putla....he thinks he is all that....'SON you become important when your moves make Pakistan win matches' and you aint getting there with your current antics

after 15 yrs the team in gelled together and arent we the 'ISlamic Republic of PAKISTAN'...huh....so why shouldn't we express our religion....i say WHY NOT...wat are we ashamed off....offcourse no compulsion...but i am sure looking at how aware inzi is about Islam he would never force anyone to pray or practice religion...

and doesn't this smart ceo has better things to do then make statments like these....go fix the domestic system you 'know it all'

you seem to be living in New Jersey, USA, why dont you go back to "Islamic republic of Pakistan" which doesnt exhibit any trait of Islam through its corrupt mullah's anyway

wat does this have to do with me living in jersey....and did i say anything about the corrupt mullah's....or are you calling inzi corrupt now?

my point is simple...for someone as new as this chief...he thinks he knows too much....but he doesn't....i wanna see what good on the 'field' do his moves do....only then can he be considered good...

if you wanna make a comment about this statement of mine..please do....otherwise i suggest you dont make it personal

this ashraf is just another Musharraf chamcha.

Sanity prevails. That's the way it should be.

from wht im observing... he trying to make it clear tht whteva SK did was wrong... and he has now arrived... he trying to be a messiah. this is just utter **** he is doing in public. if he had any talks with inzy. he shudnt have gone public. he better keep his ideas 'private'.

SK never delivered on his word. The septagenarian did not even manage to present the revised PCB Constitution even six months after the promised deadline.

AT LEAST YOU were glorious in defeat

I am just anxiously waiting for scientologists at my work to have a daily meeting about religion. Hoepfully they do announce the guest speakers who will come in atleast a day before. That would be just wonderful envoirnment to work in and ofcourse also get paid for it.

on the danish kaneria topic,

i always found it weird him saying inshallah in interviews

maybe he was forced to

maybe u can ask him?

"Inshallah" is used very frequently by Pakistanis in their everyday speech. I've known Christians Pakistanis who use the phrase because it's something that they hear. They also greet others with "Assalam-o-alaikum" and "Khuda Hafiz".

Dont read too much into it.

Praying should not be discouraged directly or indirectly. Dr Nasim Ashraf should have his head examined if he believes people are selected after a qirat competition.

You cannot deny the fact that there is a very strong tableeghi jamaat influence on the side with Saeed Anwar so close to the players.

if the above is true then its quite pathetic. probably Mush told him to do this because he feels it hurts Paks englightened/moderate/soft image that our "fearless" leader is so obsessed about.

this in no way will help alleviate any feelings of being left out for those in the team who are not muslim or are non-practising muslims or even players trying to get in the team who are not religious.

EVERYONE in Pakistan regardless of their religious beliefs uses phrases like 'inshallah' and 'Allah ke fazl' and 'mashallah' etc. My family has a Christian tailor in Lahore.......very devoutly religious Christian and every second sentence he uses involves one of them.

the doctor is completely accurate in his asseement about the perception that players will only be picked if they are devout Muslims

this has been a cause of concern for a number of years now

it was hinted that that this was one of the reasons for the rift beteween shoaib and inzi

Agree completely.

I have heard that during the England test series Yousuf use to insist that there be a Dars every lunch break. That I think is wrong....lunch break should be used to eat your lunch and sort out the tactics for the next session. They are paid to play cricket and it is their duty to give 150% to their cricket while they are representing Pakistan.

Praying and religion is all very well but it needs to made ABOLUTELY 300% CLEAR that it has no bearing on your selection to the team.

ru sure?? who tld u that or is this [sarcasm]??

This is a wonderful move by the new pcb ceo.

I know first hand that during the english series a certain burly batsman would knock at the hotel room doors for fajr namaz at 4.30/5am each and every single day including match days...remember how david looyd highlighted pakistan team arriving one or two hours after the england team for prematch practice and looking tired...well now you all know the reasons why.

If a guy wants to do his prayers thats gr8 but should not be forced upon you..especially to the youngsters who 'cant refuse and will not refuse' their peers...

The new Pakistan Cricket Board chairman has told the national team to stop exhibiting religious beliefs in public.

Dr Nasim Ashraf is concerned about a perception that players will only be picked if they are devout Muslims.

And he has discussed the matter with captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who is currently serving a ban from the game.

"I have told him clearly that there should be no pressure on players who don't pray regularly or any compulsion on them to do it," Ashraf commented.

"He has assured me there is no pressure on anyone to do anything they don't want to do."


I can't seem to connect the two things because if i understand it correctly he never said that you can't openly express your religion in public e.g he never said not use words like "Bismillah" or "InsAllah" during interviews it seems as if he is merely saying that don't "force" others players to pray
.

all those first hand knowlegde will come now. uff
and by burly batsman u mean Mohammad Yousuf or Inzy?

Afridi is a bit burly too but i guess he is more of a "batter" than a "batsman"

actually no..it doesnt come now...i posted this during the summer too..
and yes it is inzy...

This is what I said in another thread, this is what I think.



I earlier said this:



It might seem like I am contradicting myself but I am not. I agree with Ashraf that religion should have no bearing whatsover on team selection but I strongly disagree with the fact that players shouldn't exhibit their religious beliefs in public.

why did he feel the need to state this through the press? could he not have just talked to the team about it in private just like they should practise their religion in private?

this man is a thorough embarassment.

Yes. And following commandments of Islam properly, there is indeed no complusion in religion. The only compulsion in this context is specifically for the parents (real parents) of children to ensure that their kids do read salaat.

Also Inzi knocking at the doors of players bang first thing at crack of dawn is actually equal to him coercing players to read namaaz. Not that it's a bad thing but is contradictory to what he said to Wasim on ESPN - that ALL players are doing it of their own volition. IF ALL the players pray of their own will at even fajr, they would themselves ensure they get up in time to read the prayers. It's generally only the half-sure ones who need to be woken up like this - you use an alarm clock if you want to get up in time.

Now if I am a player and hear the skipper knock on the door asking me to come and pray, I 'd be most foolish and not career-oriented not to fall into line.

There is nothing wrong w/ that tableeghi jamaat influence as far as their on teh field activities and performances are not sacrificed.

Like Musharraf he likes to be in teh media

Great move by the guy.

But I feel he is not going to be too popular in Pakistan initially.

I can see his next article about "Pkaistani team should be going out to clubs to migle". This guy will be fun to have on PCB board. I hope to hear more from him. I'm sure mushraf is giving him orders. I don't blame the guy, his only trying to urn his living. Good on him.

agreed
i think personally musharaaf is a good leader for the country but i believe handling cricket and running a country is 2 diffrent thing s i hope mushi gets that

you r god damn rite thats why in abt 9 days i m moving bak 2 pak ma home land
i m lovin it

I am telling you you are in for one hell of a surprise.

I think am going to do a complete u turn as thinking about this I realise people have a right to keep there religon private or public/open. People may think I have lost it but Islam does teach you to INVITE people to it...but NOT FORCE people or pressure people into Islam.

As long as the religious players in the team do not force or pressure anyone into praying or converting to another religion etc then the players should be able to practice there religion however they want.

I don't think there was any need for this. The team is fine as is.

“There is no compulsion in religion” [al-Baqarah 2:256]

Good move by the new ceo...religion should not be imposed on the players, it should be there own faith, plus i have this feeling that salman butts removal from the 15 might be cuz he a no beard ipod listning cool kid. jss a feeling.

You just reminded me of Salman Butt, where is he? He certainly is a very talented batsman. Dropped? Injured? What happened there.

Dropped, but no one knows for how long

well guys the boys have already started to take advantage of this "freedom"....Most of them including the captain Younis Khan were out watching movie(The Don) till 2:30 am!

As long as religion doesn't become the selection criteria and no one in the team is forced to do anything, then it should work out fine.

Though he didn't have to go public with it. He could have easily told Inzi via an SMS.

I think the reason he went public was to sort of send a message out to all potential and future cricketers that you don't have to be a devout muslim to get into the team.

This Guy is an absolute Nutter, Pure utter rubbish & insanity this if you ask me.

He is the PCB head For pakistan not U.S.A, The players & inzi can do , what ever they dang want too, there is no conclusive Evidence that only Islam Practicing Players get Selected .

& no former player or any player who has been dropped has come out and suggested other wise as well, and we all know how our players are, if there is something going on behind closed doors, we all get too know about it sooner or later!


i suggest Mr.Ashraf keeps his mouth shut for a bit, and gets back in the office and sorts the things out, which he is meant to be doing .

But Offcource!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

& people are talking utter non-sense, when they say salman butt was dropped because he had no beard on his face, let me remind all those thinking along them lines that neither kamran akmal, shoaib malik, younis khan, imran farhat, hafeez, Asif, shoaib akhtar, umar Gul, Rao iftikhar, Rana naved, Faisal iqbal have a beard .

have never read something more stupider.

Ok! Can anyone prove that the current lot has been imposing the relegion on others?

Would you really want a player who wouldnt give his best to get into the team because they feel they wont be included in it due to them not being a devout Muslim?

Was a bit of a needless statement

Besides, Can anyone tell me what this ashraf guy was doing in the dressing room during oval test's fiasco. Under what position he stuck his nose there and now he is all blaming Inzamam for all the wrong doing and telling the media that he wanted Inzaman to go ahead. He is trying to be the only hero here while others are all villains, another musharaf wana-be...............

i dont know what your problem is, but every time a topic comes up on islam & pakistan, you just take cheap shots for no reason, and which are completely irrelevant, i dont know what the mullahs did to you , perhaps you had to do a runner because of the choices you made in life, but seriously, enough is enough, not every thing wrong with the world, pakistan & your life is Mullah's fault .

I agree 100% with Cavin bhai. Well said Cav.
Anyway, Danish Kaneria seems to be doing ok. And, anyway how does Pakistan team make religion public? They practicse religion in private and just because Inzy etc start interviews with Bismillah and say Inshallah etc doesn't mean they are making religion public. I think Mr. Ashraff just wants to show he's incharge.

I think those who seem to be alergic to the relegion are the one who do not quite understand the essence of relegion ISLAM. I think they need to do some deep study before they make any judgement.....

Yeah, and theres nothing out of the ordinary about the pictures of them reading namaz when in training. Im sure many people here may do the same when playing during a time when there is a break coinciding with namaz

When the whole world doesnt have problem with the interviews being started with Bismillah and Inshallah then this Mr. Ashraf factor should be quiet.....

I think he has initiated another controversy.......

They need to keep their mouths shut, & give it a rest

i dont ever remember, inzi or anyone else using Cricket or his position as captain to preach about islam, in fact it is 99.99% times the media guys who ask about the islam influences on the team, & inzi always says, it has brought the Team together, boys are united , says along them lines, rather oh Yasir hameed/salman butt were dropped because they did not wake up for Fajr .

someone said, that this Nutter guy came from the U.S.A, they might not pray in the States, but please someone tell him this " when in Rome, do as the romans do" , exactly Pakistan is a muslim country , & Cricket team is meant to be muslim

Any player would like the assurance that selection is on the basis of merit alone and yes the perception that there are other requirements -whatever they may be - for selection can be a demoralizing factor.

If there was a perception amongst players in that regard then it's a much needed statement.

Last time i checked, Danish kaneria was Inzi's Favorite player, & trump card for every TEST SERIES, even if SHoaib akhtar was in the TEAM!


i think Danish leads the prayers , thats why

My first thought was that he didn't actually have a problem with the 'InshAllah' and 'Bismillah'.

But if this is what he is referring to, then maybe he needs to be tested for drugs.

Do you really think there is a perception Marooned? I mean Danish plays for Pak freely without having to be a muslim and everyone knows that the likes of Akhtar and Asif aren't religous and enjoy there freedoms.

I think Cavin420 and Ehjaz have hit the nail on the head with excellent posts above.

edit

Post of the week and more for me. Mashallah Nadeem bhai you put it nicely. I have to put this on the keep religion private thread.

Also, ENOCURAGING & INVITING people to a religous team has shown and help create a strong team bond. It's not as if the players FORCE and PRESSURE players to be religous and if they did then that wouldn't be religous anyway. I am sure the religous players know full well that in Islam you are not allowed to force or pressure anyone.

Also, Bob Woolmer and many of the coaching staff physios etc are non muslim and enjoy freedom and give the message out that you dont have to be religous and muslim to be associated with the Pak team. And, add the likes of Kaneria and Akhtar etc.

I am curious to know what you were going to say bhai but never mind

Its a bit unfortunate that our new chairman has to come out publicly making such unthoughtful remarks, to make a headline or two.

Firstly as nadeem says, there is no reason for him to state that religion is a private affair - sure that might be his personal view and he is entitled to that, but he has no right on enuforcing this viewpoint onto others -- you can safely say the vast majority of Muslims, believe that Islam is a way of life and has an impact on every sphere of our lives. There is no reason to be embarassed or shamed about your beliefs or try to disassociate yourself from your 'deen' because of the wrong actions of some other followers of it.

The concept of 'deen' differs to the concept of a 'religion' as in the West, where it is often thought that religion is just a 'mere' aspect of life, that is kept aside and has its own private time and space. Its almost like religion is a satellite TV channel that you can tune in to when you are bored of watching soaps, movies, sports and news on the other channels.

Sadly you get the impression that this is how the West wants to see Muslims live their lives too, this is their defintion of a 'moderate' Muslim - ie, one who sees Islam as just a religion, as just another satellite TV channel of about 200 and watches just those programmes that fit into his half an hour of spare time.

And it appears anyone who choses not to adopt this way of thinking, is not a moderate - he is most likely an extremist or a fundamentalist.. or the term used in Pakistan by the so-called moderates, is 'Islaamist', or just Maulvi - a Muslim who grows a beard, offers his prayers regularly, spends a lot of time at the Mosque, frequently uses the words Bismillah and Inshallah when he talks..

Musharraf is obviously keen on changing the image and perception of Pakistan in the West, with his idea of 'enlightended moderation' -- and you get the feeling, Dr Naseem Ashraf sharing the same vision, wants to see a more 'moderate' image for Pakistan cricket team.

The question arises, Dr Naseem Asharaf could have even privately told Inzy and the players that he felt the team's religious image had to change , but the fact that he has chosen to make these claims publicly and to the media, tells you he has a target audience in mind - looking to please the West? perhaps.