Recently, in Newark, New Jersey, players from the football team at Shabazz High School took a moment before the game to pause in their warm-ups to do Salah, an expression of gratitude, which is praise to their God, Allah, in the pregame routines before stepping onto the field. Now, this has upset many people in the United States and elsewhere who have heard about it. They are saying that prayer should not be allowed in schools, prayer should not be allowed at sporting events, and many people are outraged over this.
Now, are they outraged because they don’t like the fact that they are praying, or are they outraged because it’s Muslims doing it? It is all over social media, and people are responding in many different ways, most negatively, though.
They are saying that prayer should not be allowed, that this is a violation of the Constitution, that this is against the law; all kinds of crazy stuff is coming out of the woodwork. Many people are saying that the United States is a Christian nation, so they should not be praying to their Muslim God and many other things. But because they say things like that, don’t take it the wrong way; they’re not really bigots or anything, or so they say. They’re just upset because this should not be done.
As someone who has covered sports for many, many years, I have gone all over the country to many different schools. High schools, middle schools, elementary schools, and colleges, and I have seen many people pray before games. I have seen groups of people pray; I have seen teams kneel and pray; I have seen just a couple of individuals pray. Many teams and players pray in the locker room, on the bench, or huddled away in a corner. And I have no problem with it. Even if I didn’t agree with it or believe in the deity they believe in, I would still defend their right to do it.
Because it is not a violation of any rule or law unless the school has that in its charter, and also, the United States is not a Christian nation. People need to remember there were people here before Christians showed up, and other cultures and religions were coming here after Christians showed up. Jewish people came here as early as 1654. And the United states constitution 1st amendment gives you the right to free speech, and the Establishment Clause prohibits the federal government from passing laws respecting an establishment of religion, meaning it cannot create a national church or declare an official state religion!
In the United States, we are protected in practicing any religion or no religion at all without government interference. And at the Shabazz Predominantly Muslim school in New Jersey, nobody was forced to make that prayer; it’s an option, but they do it because they want to, and they have that right.
Again, I have been at so many schools, and I see the whole team sometimes go to the center of the field or to the end zone. Some of them will get on their hands and knees, and the coach will lead them in a prayer, usually that everything will go well and there will be safety, and that nobody is hurt, and that’s a good thing. I have seen many schools where the kids pray with them, and they all say a universal prayer, and I have talked to coaches about this, and they told me the kids do not have to do it if they don’t want to, but most choose to participate, and even the ones that don’t believe the same way will go over there and support their fellow athletes, and that’s the way it should be.
If you disagree with it and you don’t like it, that’s OK; you don’t have to participate, and if you’re in the crowd looking down, well, obviously you don’t have to participate. It’s not hurting anybody, and it is not a violation of any rules and laws again unless the school has that in its rules. And First Amendment rights apply.
I feel that much of the outrage over this is because it was Muslims doing it, and many of the people making rude comments have no clue about religion to begin with, or they will claim that since their religion, the Christian religion, is the largest, that’s the only one that should be practiced. Sadly, we are living in some pretty discriminatory times.
I believe in freedom of speech under the 1st Amendment. And I believe if teams wanna pray before a game, they’re not forcing anybody; they’re not making anybody uncomfortable; they have the freedom to do that. It’s their option. So the answer is a resounding yes.