Three of Muslim famous NBA players.
1. Muhammad abdul Rauf
He first became curious in Islam after his Coach gave him the autobiography of Malcom X who was a Muslim American minister and social activist. During his first year with NBA he started reading and eventually converted to Islam. In 1996 he was suspended for refusing to stand for national anthem.
"you can't be god and be for oppression." said Muhammad Abdul Rauf
After negotiating with NBA he returned, but this time he chose to pray during national anthem instead. This decision lead him to be sidelined at the peak of his career and lost gim billions of dollars which he would made otherwise.
2. Hameem Ulajuwan
He was born as a muslim in nigeria and brought up in Muslim environment. He study quran everyday, during flights, before and after his matches. He Kept Fast in month of Ramadan even it clashes with his matches, he realized that he could play better with fast. In Feb 1995 he won Player of Month even NBA matches coincidence with Month of Ramadan. In 1994 he led his team to win the championship and named as Most Valuable Player (MVP). He also decided to auction his championship Ring due to prohibition on men on wearing Gold in Islam. The following season NBA on winning championship NBA offered him platinum ring, but he auctioned it as well.
When asked about his favorite verse in Quran. He replied quran 8:29.
O you who have believed, if you fear Allah, He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty.
3. Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Kareem abdul jabbar was also converted to Islam after reading autobiography of Malcom X while in college. He also changed his name from Lew alchindor to Kareem Abdul Jabbar in 1971 after accepting Islam. By going public with his conversion he believed that he was asding his voice to civil rights movement to denounce slavery and relgious institution that supported it. Despite this, he was drawn to spiritually fulfilling the spiritual aspects of Islam rather than political. His conversion upset many of his friends and family who felt he was rejecting his Islamic Culture. but infact he was only re connecting with his African roots and abondoning the ideologies of his former slave masters. in 1972 he travelled to both Libya and Saudia Arabia to learn Arabic and understand quran for himself
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