March 28, 2013 :
Abdullah, who has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals, discussed how his religion affected his career as a football player.
Professional football player Hamza Abdullah joined Columbia’s Muslim community for a Fast-A-Thon on Tuesday evening to raise awareness for Muslims in Myanmar.
The event, at the Diana Center Event Oval, was hosted by the Muslim Students Association. Attendees pledged to fast in order to collect money for charity, and used a big name to bring attention to a lesser-known humanitarian crisis.
Abdullah, who has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals, discussed how his religion affected his career as a football player. He said he is grateful that Islam gives him “a certain structure of what I need to do and what I should be doing” in life.
In an interview after his talk, Abdullah also said he was concerned Muslims were being too reactive, not proactive, to Islamophobia. He said acts “as simple as a smile to another person” make a difference in others’ opinions of the religion.
“Islam is a religion of peace,” Abdullah said. “We have to show that in the way we walk every single day.”
Abdullah stressed the importance of understanding between religions.
“When we go to feed someone, we don’t ask that person if they’re religious or not,” he said. “The world community, the Muslim community, everyone is like a body. If one part of the body hurts, the entire body hurts. So when we look and see someone that doesn’t have what we have, we’re hurting because they’re hurting.”
That perspective was echoed in speeches by activists on the plight of the Rohingya Muslim people of Myanmar, whom the United Nations consider an oppressed minority.
Waleed Gabr, from the charity organization Islamic Relief, described the long history of oppression Muslims have gone through in the country, which is majority Buddhist. In past centuries, they were prohibited from practicing halal and were forced to listen to Buddhist sermons, he said. The conflict between the religions has been complicated by riots and killings over the years.
“They were treated worse than animals,” Gabr said, after showing a black-and-white film of harsh labor and life conditions of Muslims there. “They were burned to death ... The children didn’t have a future.”
Ammar AlShukry, a spoken-word artist, performed two poems and stressed the importance of living in the “blessing of security” and the absence of fear.
“The reason why you’re able to go and leave your house, the reason you’re able to go and work ... is because you do not have to be under the stress and anxiety of fear,” AlShukry said. Many Muslims in Myanmar have to live under that fear, he said.
“Allah says we will test you with a little bit of fear. But the reason that he mentions a portion of fear is because no one can bear total fear,” he said, “Because fear is paralyzing—fear destroys.”
Abdul Rafay Hanif, CC ’14 and Muslim Students Association president, said that the situation of Muslims in Myanmar is largely underreported by Western media.
“There is a lot of attention that wasn’t being diverted to them,” Hanif said. “For them, the Myanmar issue is not something as hot and sexy as something happening in the Middle East.”
The MSA is trying to raise awareness about the plight of Myanmar Muslims, Hanif said.
“Issues that we bring up are issues that not only the rest of the Muslim community, but other people on campus and other people in New York City are also made aware of,” he said.
Abdullah, who has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals, discussed how his religion affected his career as a football player.
Professional football player Hamza Abdullah joined Columbia’s Muslim community for a Fast-A-Thon on Tuesday evening to raise awareness for Muslims in Myanmar.
The event, at the Diana Center Event Oval, was hosted by the Muslim Students Association. Attendees pledged to fast in order to collect money for charity, and used a big name to bring attention to a lesser-known humanitarian crisis.
Abdullah, who has played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals, discussed how his religion affected his career as a football player. He said he is grateful that Islam gives him “a certain structure of what I need to do and what I should be doing” in life.
In an interview after his talk, Abdullah also said he was concerned Muslims were being too reactive, not proactive, to Islamophobia. He said acts “as simple as a smile to another person” make a difference in others’ opinions of the religion.
“Islam is a religion of peace,” Abdullah said. “We have to show that in the way we walk every single day.”
Abdullah stressed the importance of understanding between religions.
“When we go to feed someone, we don’t ask that person if they’re religious or not,” he said. “The world community, the Muslim community, everyone is like a body. If one part of the body hurts, the entire body hurts. So when we look and see someone that doesn’t have what we have, we’re hurting because they’re hurting.”
That perspective was echoed in speeches by activists on the plight of the Rohingya Muslim people of Myanmar, whom the United Nations consider an oppressed minority.
Waleed Gabr, from the charity organization Islamic Relief, described the long history of oppression Muslims have gone through in the country, which is majority Buddhist. In past centuries, they were prohibited from practicing halal and were forced to listen to Buddhist sermons, he said. The conflict between the religions has been complicated by riots and killings over the years.
“They were treated worse than animals,” Gabr said, after showing a black-and-white film of harsh labor and life conditions of Muslims there. “They were burned to death ... The children didn’t have a future.”
Ammar AlShukry, a spoken-word artist, performed two poems and stressed the importance of living in the “blessing of security” and the absence of fear.
“The reason why you’re able to go and leave your house, the reason you’re able to go and work ... is because you do not have to be under the stress and anxiety of fear,” AlShukry said. Many Muslims in Myanmar have to live under that fear, he said.
“Allah says we will test you with a little bit of fear. But the reason that he mentions a portion of fear is because no one can bear total fear,” he said, “Because fear is paralyzing—fear destroys.”
Abdul Rafay Hanif, CC ’14 and Muslim Students Association president, said that the situation of Muslims in Myanmar is largely underreported by Western media.
“There is a lot of attention that wasn’t being diverted to them,” Hanif said. “For them, the Myanmar issue is not something as hot and sexy as something happening in the Middle East.”
The MSA is trying to raise awareness about the plight of Myanmar Muslims, Hanif said.
“Issues that we bring up are issues that not only the rest of the Muslim community, but other people on campus and other people in New York City are also made aware of,” he said.
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