(Insert a bass voice)
Hear me join the chant:
"Mo Sa la la la lah
Mo sa la la la lah
If he's good enough for you
He's good enough for me
If he scores another few
Then i'll be Muslim too!!
He's sitting in the mosque
That's where I wanna be!
Mo sa la la la lah..."
It's actually more fun hearing the fan chant. Check here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GsQ1XzTGFI
So, Mo Salah you people!! I mean, where do I start?! I'm just totally amused, amazed, obsessed, inspired by this guy.
Wait a minute, could I be leaving behind someone in this 'virtual conversation?' For those who don't know, Mohammed Salah is a 25 year old Egyptian football player currently playing for Liverpool and he's swept the entire world with his character, his talent and passion. They call him 'The Egyptian Messi' as well as 'The shining light of Arabic football'.
He is the first Egyptian player to score a PL hat-trick, first Liverpool player to score four goals in a single PL game since Suarez, He is the top goal scorer in Premier League and the top goal scorer in Europe. Not my words, but as stated from one of the tweets by the account: @blamefootball.
I am honestly learning a lot from Mo Salah, well not playing football (I'm yet to learn :D ) but from how his character and humbleness has touched the whole world. Before I even go into what I have picked from him, I want to share some of the best tweets talking about this phenomenal player.
"Mohamed Salah teaches us how to be a true hardworking successful professional while also being an extremely humble human being, what a man." @lfc_family
"Mo Salah doing more to end the clash of civilisations than anyone in the world." @karlreMarks
"Looool mo salah is doing more for tackling islamaphobia in Britain than Theresa May and all her cabinet." @BigHComedy
"Not sure if my fandom of Mo Salah is going over the top but I keep kissing the floor every time I finish a job around the house." @stehoare
"I present to you the eighth wonder of the world. Mohamed Salah *insert fire emojis* @kollinswitha_K
"Just realised Salah's goal for Liverpool equated Lingard's 14 career goals for United. He's done it in 16 matches. Lingard's on 100k while Salah is on 90k a week. Pass me some bleach." @UtdOliver (This tweet was by a MAN-U fan and it got over 2400 retweets and 3300 likes. Even other football club fans can't resist admiring him.)
"I'm not a Liverpool fan but you must believe football builds bridges with this red chant for Mo Salah." @GreatObiesesan.
"Should they replace these pyramids by Mohamad Salah?" @touficzayni (If you get the joke :D )
In an image showing Messi holding a jersey with M. Salah's name, @footyhumour says: "Messi naming his successor- Salah is the new GOAT'
"That's the secret to his greatness right there. Humility. He won't let it get to his head. Messi's exactly the same." @stevenelson45
And one of the most trending tweets was this one by @CarsonCoffield who tweeted: "HE GONNA TURN ME MUSLIM" The tweet got so much attention; retweets and responses. One of the responses was by @ShahdHany who said: "If you wanna know why this tweet got this much of attention is bcuz Salah represents a role model to muslims all over the world."
The tweets are so juicy I need to stop or I wouldn't finish today :D
The beauty of this all is how the Mo Salah chant above was received well in the entire world. You know normally we'd expect rude comments from some of the very negative people who would question the intention of the chant, like why do we necessarily have to celebrate Mo Salah in terms of his religion or just post ridiculous comments insulting the fans for what may seem to others as 'naivety'. Yet I wouldn't call it naivety, I call it purity. I mean, in this age and era, Islam has been portrayed in great extents as mostly a negative religion, violent and BAD. But here are the fans, from very diverse background, diverse religions, homes, race and all that, yet they decide to keep that all aside for the love of this man's character and zeal. They want to identify themselves by what Mo Salah has shown matters a lot to him; his religion. I mean, I.AM.AWED!!
Here are some few things i've learnt from him:
- Be proud of who you are: Mo Salah is your typical Arab guy who speaks English with mother-tongue influence. He keeps his beard despite the negative notion of what the combination of 'Being Muslim + Being Arab + Having a beard' might spark especially in the Western world. He didn't force himself to speak with a British accent or cut off his beard to fit in. In fact he openly portrays himself as Muslim inside the pitch by making dua and doing sujood (prostration) openly when he scores or wins a game. This guy is not just a Muslim. HE IS LIVING ISLAM. Are you still ashamed of being Muslim? This man is just an inspiration!
- Being humble: Mo Salah, who was previously a Chelsea player, at one of the games didn't celebrate a goal he scored while playing against this former team. Some say this was in respect of his former team mates while others say, Salah’s lack of celebration could have been due to terror attack in Egypt where 305 people were killed on Friday after heavily-armed militants bombed a mosque and opened fire. Either way, we like him for that. He also once apologized to the Watford goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis after scoring four times at the 5-0 win at Anfield. You'd say its not even necessary! Its just a game but this man goes ahead and apologizes. Perhaps just to show his empathy and humbleness? Humanity at its finest! He also teaches us to remember where we came from and never forget people who once were in the same task force as us.
- Go after your dreams! In one of the interviews, Mo Salah is asked about his favourite subject at school and he answers something close to: Subject? It was always football. Parents, ARE YOU LISTENING?! Let your children go after their dreams. You reading this, go after your dreams however impossible they may seem at the moment. I am sure Mo Salah never quite imagined that they'd be a day he'd be compared to Messi, right?!
- Let your actions speak for you: Brand ambassadors, PR managers, marketing staff, borrow a leaf from Mo Salah! At no precise point are we shown Mo Salah preaching or talking about Islam. It is all in how he naturally talks, interacts, behaves with the people around him. He is the brand ambassador of Islam right now. Not because of what he says, but by the positive energy he keeps sending to the people around him. Even his name reveals this already :D Mohamed- The name of one of the greatest influencers in the world history, the beloved prophet peace be upon him and Salah? The Arabic term for our prayers. He is representing our deen well. Maybe remember him in your duas that he keeps doing the great job?
- Do not give up! Mo Salah didn't quite live to his expectations while playing for Chelsea. When he was asked whether he felt the pressure of making just 19 appearances for Chelsea he said, "I don't think it's like this." Klopp, manager of Liverpool football club said on this: "Maybe it was one reason he came back, but he's not like 'Now I will show you the real Mo Salah.' 'He was a kid when he came to Chelsea, and we have heard a few times that's quite difficult and in that time they were really successful. It was quite tough to come through...he's a man now, he was a kid at Chelsea, now he's a man. That's good." He wasn't given enough time at Chelsea to showcase his talent and some even thought he was a premier league flop. We see the growth here. From what he was before, his struggles and him not reaching his full potential, yet still he went on to work towards his goals. Like literally :D
Photo credit: theconversation.com
In one of the many articles about him, "Liverpool FC's Mohamed Salah's goal celebrations: a guide to British Muslimness" the writer says: "The double-edged sword of Salah's sujood is that it is tied to his excellence on the field. If he stops scoring, he will stop performing sujood. As a result, the fans will love him-and Islam-a little less." Which is quite possible but then it reminds me of Usain Bolt when he became runner's up on his very last race before his retirement. We were a little bit disappointed but it didn't make us love him or his skills any less, did it? Let's just hope Mo Salah keeps scoring though. Positive vibes aaalll the way!
P.S I don't really watch football. I'm just good at what I do *sips tea* :D ;)
Talking of what I am good at, I will be holding the second creative writing training during the Easter Weekend (Friday-30th March and Sunday 1st April). Two full days at a reasonable fee. If interested, do registered prior to via this no: 0704 731 560.
Venue: Abad Institute, Makadara Old Town
Time: 8 am - 4 pm
Sessions include: Basic writing skills
Introduction to blogging
Finding your voice
Islamic writing (For Muslims)
Therapeutic writing (Dealing with stress)
Writing about the Coast and other fun activities.
Kindly do share the information! Thank you :)
