I do really like this sentiment. I agree that all marginalized groups need people to look up to. However, the one thing that I am opposed to is that Salah is a wonderful representative of Islam "in Britain". Why could he not be celebrated as a wonderful representative of Islam to other Muslims? This feels Islamophilic as well.

This seems to trivialize the fans' actions.

"Confronting" seems like a very combative word and potentially gives too much weight to what Mohamed is doing. After reading the article, it seems that his actions are not an intentional act of "confrontation" but rather just him living his life and practicing Islam as the religion relates to him. Perhaps making such a big deal of his actions further alienates the Muslim community by highlighting their supposed differences.

I agree. Though I love the overall purpose of this article (to show how a devoutly religious but apolitical Muslim can help decrease Islamophobia), I agree with Massad's point that this fact will not change underlying racist tendencies in British culture. I think that in order for this to happen, we need to move away from Islamophilia and focus on educating all peoples about Islam as well as integrating Muslim faith into our societies rather than continually positing Muslims as "the other" and "the different".

This paragraph lays out some of the assumptions about Islam that the article makes: Muslim men wear beards, Muslim women are veiled, Muslims look Arab, Muslims are extremely devout, etc.,

I wonder if the reason why Stephan Lawrence, Paul Pogba, and Ousmane Dembélé received this awful treatment because they were more political than Salah is. Why is Salah different from other soccer players who could be constituted as different?

I have the same feelings about this as I do the song, but the fact that the video went viral only heightens the unease that I feel. This is also such a good example of the Islamophilia that discussed in the Shryock reading.

Though I personally think that Muslims have the same right to be political as all marginalized groups do, I do understand that Salah appeals to a white fan base because he is not. In the context of post-9/11, I understand why people would not like a political Muslim. However, just because I understand it doesn't mean that I like it; I don't.

I agree; though I think that this article is highly political, I appreciate the fact that they recognize that Salah is not.

I really like this and appreciate the fact that Salah enjoys being an inspiration for other Muslims. I can see the beginning of this article being read like the BuzzFeed video that we watched on class on Thursday. Salah feeling as if he is an inspiration for other Muslims (rather than being a wonderful representation of Islam for people in Britain) reminds me of the response video that we watched after.

This is so important!! Salah is not trying to be anything other than a great soccer player. When he prostrates himself after a goal or posts a photo of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, he is not trying to be a wonderful representative of Islam in Britain. He is just trying to be himself.

I would like to know how land is awarded as well as what land Salah received.

Though I might be making too big of a deal of this, it is interesting, and perhaps extremely telling, that the sentence about Salah's wife being veiled is its own separate sentence and one that ends the paragraph about all of the ways that Salah is "different". I feel like women being veiled is such a point of contention for Islamophobic people and I think that the article plays into this understanding.

The use of the phrase "by contrast" makes clear that in this article, Islam is understood and defined as "the other". "By contrast" to the norm (which in this case is being Western and presenting yourself as so), Salah by practicing his faith and being open devout is presenting himself as "the other", as the opposite of what this article defines as the norm.

I think the idea of visible versus invisible Muslims is very interesting. It is also interesting that only some Muslims are able to practice their faith invisibly (ex: women who do not wear the hijab, people who do not look distinctly Arab). However, the idea that Salah is more visible as a Muslim because he looks Arab is also interesting and fully supports the idea of Muslims being a radicalized group.

This just seems to be like any article you read about sports teams. I think that the way that Salah is normalized in this sentence, someone who is moving Liverpool forward regardless or his race or religion or name, is more powerful (and potentially more helpful to discriminated populations) than writing about how amazing it is that "even a Muslim" could be such an amazing soccer player.

That people with no interest in soccer at all speaks to the emotional poignancy that the video sparked in people as well as the video's relevance to contemporary politics regarding racism and Islamophobia.

This sentiment (that the fans will become Muslim if Mohamed scores "another few") seems to be pretty disrespectful of the religion. It minimizes the religion to a label, something that people want to call themselves in order to be closer to a star soccer player. There is nothing in this song that mentions what it means to be a Muslim or the rich religious history that accompanies becoming one.