Sports fever

''put the world in your hand (^^)'

World Cup

I thought watching football can make my brothers and I have something in common to talk about. Unfortunately, it seems that we only have more things to argue about now compared to the time before the World Cup begins. I, as I have the knick for sports, couldn't stop myself from judging the game and be emotionally affected (well, girls.. emotional). My teenage brother began to sulk after Kaka was sent off the field in the match against Ivory Coast (emo jugak), which I didn't care much about. I don't support Brazil anyway, just because. (-.-') The little brother just tagging along, I think for the same reason: he just wanted to find something in common between him and the elder brother. However, since I'm the one who spends more time at home, thus making me appear to be indulged with the World Cup programme more, the little brother eventually spends more time with me compared to with the other brother. The funny things is, this little brother does not support any team in particular; instead, he just trying to be funny by supporting any team that plays against the teams I support. Geram; saja cari pasal.

Well, that was the scene with my family. We're not supporting our own country by the way; but we're arguing as if the teams represent our homeland, or feel that we're part of the teams. <(@.@)> fuyyoyo.

When losing, the referee and the players are always the targets for the fans to relinquish their anger. Fingers shot out to point who to be blamed for the lost. I find it very amusing whenever the umpire makes a call (not the telephone call, baby, no.) whenever foul-play was committed. The accused team and their supporters would throw insults to the umpire, and try to back up the player with any possible reason (which sometimes can be unreasonable). The umpire would appear as being biased towards them. Sometimes, the umpire can make a mistake. Let say, A did not commit a foul play against B; but the umpire said so, thus letting B to have a free-kick. However, would you find B explain to the referee that A did not do it? NO. The opponent team would be relieved with the call and will just continue the game. Here, the umpire appears to be 'very fair'.

Losing

Think. Just because we want to be parts of this World Cup (hey, it's only 'world' cup, not Akhirat cup *gulp*), we offer ourselves a hard time to become the fanatic supporters. We know it is supposed to be a fair game. But, the 'fair-play' is never fair to the losing team or when your favourite player is at fault, right? and the rules of the game can always be manipulated. What more, with the betting system going on all over the world, people will just do almost everything to make sure their bets give them benefits. And when the team lost, you lost your money. You lost your money, and become worried (isn't that money for your child's college fees?)...

I'd simply put the links like this:
team lost = lost money --> become worried --> become emotionally disturbed --> become easily agitated --> someone provokes, you lost your patience --> can't control yourself --> throw punches+insults and threaten... --> lost your dignity (nobility or elevation of character)... OUCH!

Within my limited knowledge (which is also a blessing from Allah The All-Knowing), this is what as far as I can see (Can you see the bigger picture?). Islam forbids any form of 'judi', which at the end there's always a losing side. Judi, rasuah, aurat.... menjadi perkara-perkara yang dipandang enteng. Even the muslims have not protect their tongues from insulting and hurting others; and the Malays are proud to show off their 'excellent competency' in English by shouting insolent words in that language.

Winning

Even winning is not always a favoured situation. Winning equals to showers of praises from the fans and worldly rewards from the sponsors etc. Be careful, my friends. It's not easy to protect our hearts from illness. Riak, ujub and takabbur are parts of the illness. We learnt that the only unforgiven sin is 'shirk'; and we learnt that there are two types of shirk- the major one and the minor/hidden one. Riak, ujub and takabbur are parts of the hidden shirk. Why?

1) Riak- it means showing off in the material world; often associated with expecting rewards (gifts/praises) from humans. Aren't we supposed to expect rewards only from Allah SWT?

2) Ujub- you feel amazed with your own self. Rasa 'ajaib' dengan diri sendir (make sense?) The fact is, Allah is The One who lent you the ability to play. He is The One who moved your limbs so that you can run etc. Supposedly, we should always direct all praises to Allah and be thankful to Him.

3) Takabbur- you feel that you're the best and no one can be compared to you. Takabbur ni, adalah perbuatan membesarkan diri sendiri, padahal Allah jualah Yang Maha Besar. Allahuakbar! What do you feel when you shout this? Just for fun? No. When you shout the takbir, make sure your heart and your whole body understand how Great Allah is. Allah Yang Maha Besar, He is above everything that He created; and you need Him to give you strength. Let that spirit runs in your every vein. Allahuakbar. Indah bukan?

Bukankah Islam itu syumul? Islam is a complete guide, in all aspects of our lives. Of course sports is part of it. It's a form of entertainment. But, how Islamic is the sports world now? And we muslims tend to follow suit whatever the others are doing. We tend to follow what the non-believers do though it transgresses what has been revealed in the Qur'an, just because they excel in this area, right? Shouldn't we believe that whatever Allah has commanded on us, suits our ability? Islam itu tinggi, dan tidak ada yang lebih tinggi dari Islam.

Just for extra info: here is a video on some of the international football players- and I'm proud to say they are muslims :)



May Allah protect us from associating Him with anything that we know and things we don't know.
May Allah make us among those who are committed to the Quran.
May Allah have mercy on us on the Day of Judgement.