On Tuesday (14th November) former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed former Pakistani cricketer Inzamam Ul Haq over an old video of the latter claiming that Harbhajan Singh was influenced by the ‘teachings’ of controversial Maulana Tariq Jameel and close to converting to Islam.
Taking to X, Harbhajan Singh denied the story and asserted that he is proud of his national and religious identity. “Yeh kon sa nasha pee kar baat kar raha hai? I am a proud Indian and proud Sikh..yeh Bakwaas log kuch bi bakte hai (what drug has he consumed before talking…these rubbish people talk any nonsense),” he wrote.
Yeh kon sa nasha pee kar baat kar raha hai ? I am a proud Indian and proud Sikh..yeh Bakwaas log kuch bi bakte hai 😡😡😡🤬🤬 https://t.co/eo6LN5SmWk
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) November 14, 2023
In the viral video, Inzamam-ul-Haq said that Harbhajan Singh was one of the Indian cricketers who used to attend the sermons of Maulana Tariq Jameel, who is known for performing namaz with the Pakistan cricket team. The former Pakistani said that during a tour he invited Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, and Mohammad Kaif to join the prayer sessions and that Harbhajan also attended the preaching. Inzamam went on to claim that the former Indian spinner was deeply impressed by the preaching of Tariq Jameel and had shown intent to convert to Islam.
“We had a room where we had prayers. Maulana Tariq Jameel would come by in the evening and lead us in namaz. After a few days, Irfan Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, and Zaheer Khan joined. “Four other Indian cricketers sat there watching us. Harbhajan, who was unaware that Tariq Jameel was a maulana, said ‘I am impressed with this man and my heart wants to follow his words’ but I stop because of you, as your lifestyle is not that way,” Inzamam claimed to assert that Muslim themselves are not following the path of Quran which somehow prevents non-Muslims from converting to Islam.
Notably, the old video in question had gone viral online in September last year too. However, the video has resurfaced on social media with people calling out the Pakistani cricketers for trying to convert non-Muslims to Islam instead of focusing on the game of cricket. It is pertinent to note that the Pakistani team’s dressing room has always been a fertile ground for conversion Jihad. Once Inzamam Ul Haq had narrated how he and another former Pakistani cricketer Yousaf Yohana had given “deen ki dawat” (invitation to accept Islam) to legendary West Indies cricketer Brian Lara. A detailed OpIndia report on Pakistani cricketers’ involvement in attempting to convert non-Muslim players to Islam as well as their hatred for Kafirs especially Hindus can be read here.
