# The First UFC Palestinian Champion | Belal Muhammad | Confident Muslim

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Confident Muslim
**Published:** 2025-04-28
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/-5PsyHL4kI8
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/the-first-ufc-palestinian-champion-belal-muhammad-confident-muslim
**Topics:** Identity, Politics & Practical Theology

## Description
He was told the Palestinian flag would ruin his career. He carried it anyway — into the cage, into press conferences, and into history. UFC Champion Belal Muhammad sits with Dr. Omar Suleiman to talk about pain, prayer, and the real fight beyond the cage. This is a story of rejection, resistance,...

## Transcript
**[0:00]** The First UFC Palestinian Champion As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. It's not Jum'ah, you guys can actually respond this time. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

**[0:18]** A'udhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulihi al-Kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een. Dear brothers and sisters, I actually want to build a bit on what I mentioned in the khutbah.

**[0:34]** That these promises that we've made to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala throughout our lives often materialize in us falling short when the moment actually hits. And one of the brothers reminded me after Jum'ah, and I felt compelled to say this before I talk about anything in regards to our brother Bilal

**[0:52]** and the moment that we are in right now. He said, you know, Shaykh, so many of us promised that we would stay the course with Gaza. That we would continue to protest. That the numbers would not thin. That we would stay committed so long as this genocide was ongoing and beyond

**[1:11]** to undo the historic injustice against the people of Palestine and to see through the liberation of Masjid al-Aqsa. And it was a good reminder for all of us insha'Allah ta'ala that we are in the midst of a moment. It's important for us to not falter in our efforts for Palestine

**[1:29]** and to continue to stay the course insha'Allah ta'ala and to not let the numbers diminish in any way. And I'm not just talking about the protests. I'm talking about every effort that is related to Palestine. So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to stay committed

**[1:44]** so long as they need us to be committed. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to be with them resilient until freedom is realized. Allahumma ameen. On to the subject of confident Muslim. You know as we talk about people who lived to witness a moment.

**[2:04]** There were companions in the time of the Prophet ﷺ that did not go on to become Huffadh of Quran. They didn't go on to become scholars. They were people of lofty positions and they are the minority

**[2:20]** who did not allow their attachment to their worldly accomplishments to stop them from accomplishing greatness in the hereafter. The majority of those who followed the Messenger ﷺ were people who were not distracted by the material world.

**[2:38]** They were people who already had been disappointed by everything that this world represents and who already were looking for something else as a source of fulfillment. But there were a select few.

**[2:54]** None greater than Mus'ab ibn Umair (رضي الله عنه). When we talk about the parallels. Mus'ab (رضي الله عنه). Who had everything that you could possibly want as a young man. He was the trendsetter in Mecca.

**[3:09]** And he chose instead to be a different type of trendsetter. He didn't let the fact that he had such prominence when the Prophet ﷺ preached his message. He didn't let that stop him from deeply pondering upon what the Prophet ﷺ was saying.

**[3:25]** And he used the qualities that he had to lead people in regards to their fashion, in regards to their trends, to now lead them in faith and lead them in treading a path of pleasing Allah ﷻ. He took what he had and he used it for good.

**[3:43]** And Allah ﷻ has left him as an example for us that every time you go to Medina, you know that Mus'ab (رضي الله عنه) did this. That Mus'ab was here. That he was the one who brought that da'wah to the city of the Prophet ﷺ and made people fall in love with the Prophet ﷺ

**[4:00]** before they even got to know him. We live in a day and age where so many want to reach a certain place of fame, kids grow up wondering what it would be like to be on the biggest stage. You seek this way forward

**[4:16]** where you have a platform, where you have a way forward in your career, where you can finally induce change because of your outsized influence, whatever that influence looks like, whether it's behind the scenes or on the biggest stages.

**[4:32]** And we're proud. We're proud of our brothers and sisters who used the biggest stage to not only not betray what they promised before they got there, but to amplify the message.

**[4:48]** And we have watched, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen, our brother Bilal Muhammad, your local here in Chicago, better than Chicago's pizza, you got Bilal Muhammad, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. We watched him grow and you know from the get-go

**[5:03]** before the genocide even started that he was bleeding for Palestine, that he was sweating for Palestine, that he wanted to take what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had given to him of a different platform and use that to shine light

**[5:18]** on the cause of Palestine. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's timing is perfect that alhamdulillah rabbil alameen, as his stage became biggest, he did not fail to put that forward. And when you ask me about a person

**[5:34]** like Bilal, you know Muhammad Ali rahimahullah ta'ala said that God doesn't praise me because I beat Joe Frazier. I don't get points in the akhira for beating Joe Frazier. It's about what I do with the position that I have.

**[5:49]** God rewards me for what I do with that platform. We don't love Muhammad Ali because he knocked out Joe Frazier and George Foreman. We love him because of what he did when he got to the greatest stage. Did not forsake his principles, did not betray who he was,

**[6:05]** and in fact became an even better version of himself, a light that still shines today beyond any record in a sports book. And I remember just as Bilal was about to fight his championship fight, there was this short story

**[6:20]** about a kid from Gaza named Jude who came here. And Bilal sponsored and brought him in and was spending time with him and said, I want to win this fight for him to put forth the children of Gaza in the middle of your biggest moment

**[6:36]** is something that we should all be proud of. And by the way, Bilal's dad is here. Can you stand up, Amr? May Allah bless the parents. I'm not sure if Bilal's mom is here,

**[6:51]** but may Allah bless her as well. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless his family and his siblings. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow them all to be those who are elevated in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Dear brothers and sisters, without further ado, inshallah ta'ala, I want to welcome up brother Bilal Muhammad.

**[7:06]** As-salamu alaykum.

**[7:30]** First and foremost, I just want to say alhamdulillah for everything God has given me to be on stage with. I'm a silly man, somebody I've looked up to, listened to, watched,

**[7:45]** and finally get to meet him in person. And I'm like, you play basketball or something? He's tall, he's big. He's a lot bigger than I expected. But to see all you people here, to see everyone here, to hear me speak, it's really, shows me how far I've came.

**[8:04]** When I first started my career, I didn't know how far I would go. I wasn't planning on it from a kid. I wrestled two years in high school. I was going to school, to college, and I wanted to be a lawyer. I didn't plan on playing sports.

**[8:20]** I thought I would make the NBA. I wasn't tall enough. But Allah puts people in your life for certain reasons. And my old high school wrestling coach, Lewis Taylor, I just randomly came up post,

**[8:36]** saw him on a post in Facebook, saw him fighting. I messaged him, and he invited me to the gym. I started learning. I wanted to fight. I fell in love with the sport. As you know, being from Palestine, we're all hard-headed.

**[8:52]** We're stubborn. And in this sport, you've got to be stubborn because it's you versus another man. Both of you guys train the hardest. Both of you guys work the hardest. And you're both the best version of yourself. But it's going to be the one that gives up first that's going to lose that fight.

**[9:07]** For myself, I used that. I used my deen. I used my discipline. And I used hard work to get where I am today. It wasn't an easy road. It was a long road. I had to take the stairs, as I say all the time.

**[9:24]** Some people get that escalator. Some people get the fly to the top. We had to take a slow road where I had to fight the toughest guys, and they still didn't want to give me my shot. Some people say, it's because you are representing Palestine.

**[9:41]** Stop doing that. Stop carrying the flag. But for myself, I knew that to be on that stage, I had to carry that flag. To be on that stage, to be able to carry that flag and show the world to represent a people

**[9:59]** that don't have anybody speaking for them. To represent a people that need a voice. As he said, I have a platform now. And he said in this khutbah, you make promises, right? My promise was to always represent Palestine.

**[10:14]** To never back down. No matter if they would have denied me for years, I would have still kept winning fights. I would have beat everybody they put in front of me. Because Allah's plan is the best plan. And His plan was for me to get the title when it was the worst moment in Palestinian history.

**[10:30]** People are dying every day over there. And for me just to be able to go in that cage, fight a 25-minute fight, but to see the smiles, to see the people over there cheer, to see the world now know that Palestine has a world champion. Now know that Palestine has a belt next to their name.

**[10:48]** I'll never let that go. The people over there are a lot stronger than me. The people over there that are fighting every day, that are still smiling, that are still saying Alhamdulillah.

**[11:04]** It shows me how ungrateful we are to be here in America. We have everything we need. I get to train every single day. I get to love what I do every single day. I had a little injury where I was out six weeks. And I was crying about it, and I was mad about it.

**[11:20]** But when I look at the people over there, they don't have that. They don't even know when they're going to get their next meal. They don't know when they're going to get their next food. So I looked at myself, and I just looked at the bigger picture. And now, six weeks later, I'm back to training like it was nothing.

**[11:36]** So Alhamdulillah for everything. Also, being on this platform, I obviously have a bigger stage. I'm working with Pious Projects now. And as he talked about, with the kids over there, they're suffering.

**[11:53]** We're doing a program now, it's GazaKicks.org. $5 will get the kids there a pair of shoes. So if everybody just donates $5 here, it'll help them a lot. Pious Projects, one of the best charities in the world. They show everything they do. And inshallah, every single kid over there

**[12:08]** will have a pair of shoes for winter. Thank you guys. Love you guys. Appreciate you guys. Thank you.

**[12:24]** Alhamdulillah. First of all, JazakAllah khair for sharing those words. And I want to actually emphasize what you mentioned about what Fahim and Pious Projects are doing over there. It's absolutely phenomenal, mashallah. So if you all didn't see the video of Bilal putting forth that project before we started,

**[12:41]** inshallah, we'll make sure that we play it again and everyone get involved. And this is part of doing everything that you possibly can. So I want to sort of walk you through, inshallah, or help be walked through sort of your trajectory.

**[12:56]** How has your journey brought you closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? How has it brought you closer to faith? It's brought me closer to faith because the sport's a lonely sport. You're in the practice room, you're training, you're doing everything on your own.

**[13:12]** When you're in the cage, you're on your own. It's a lot of stuff that we do, it comes in your head. You're thinking, you're doubting, am I doing enough? Did I work hard enough? Is my opponent training harder? Even if you worked the hardest you ever worked,

**[13:27]** my third fight in the UFC, I was on the biggest stage, Madison Square Garden. When you think about fighting in Madison Square Garden, that arena, you're... It's something you dream of. Muhammad Ali fought there. The Knicks play there, the Bulls play there.

**[13:42]** I always wanted to fight there. So for me, it was surreal that I was actually in that arena. And I went in there and I lost. I got knocked out. First time that ever happened to me. And afterward, you go back to your dressing room and you look at yourself in the mirror

**[13:58]** and you're thinking, why did Allah do this to me? Is he punishing me? Did I do something wrong? Did I make a promise that I said I want to keep? Is he making this happen for a reason? Because you're always thinking something bad happens to you because you did something wrong.

**[14:13]** Now that I look back at it, seven years later, all that stuff that happened to me, it made me change where I was. I found a different gym. I worked harder. I found different training methods. And now that I look back at all the ups and the downs,

**[14:29]** Alhamdulillah for everything. Because at that moment, it was the hardest thing in the world that happened to me. But now that I'm watching it and I think about it, it was the best thing that could ever happen to me. And to be able to win this last fight on the biggest stage in front of all those people,

**[14:46]** I had my first fight with Leon Edwards. It didn't go the way I wanted, right? It was another main event, first time happening, short notice fight, ESPN, you're on a poster now. And I thought, I'm going to win this fight, fight for the belt, and bam, it's there. I go out there, I get poked in the eye.

**[15:03]** Lost the opportunity to fight him. Had to go through five more fights till I was able to fight him again. But now that I look back at it, it was for this reason. I had to fight him on a bigger stage.

**[15:18]** He had the belt now. I was able to take the belt from him in his home country when nobody thought I would do it. They all doubted me. So, I always just look at, and I always think about everything happens for a reason, and I just got to trust it.

**[15:34]** And now that I always know, and I always say it, but it's believing in it too, right? Allah's plan is the best plan, and I'm living it. You know, Alhamdulillah, as you talk about that, being the first Palestinian champion

**[15:50]** in the UFC, SubhanAllah, wouldn't have meant the same thing had it happened years ago as it did in the middle of Gaza, in the middle of this genocide. I want to ask you, over the years, has anyone told you that maybe you're overdoing it

**[16:06]** on the Palestine thing, and that might be holding you back from some of these opportunities? It's funny, because when I first was coming up on the outside of the UFC, I was undefeated, 8-0, 9-0, working my way to try to fight for a belt.

**[16:23]** And the company I was working for at the time, they were a decent-sized company, and the owner of the company told me, the first time I fought for them, I walked out with a flag, and he said, they paid me after everybody. So we go to the back room. When you're not in the UFC,

**[16:39]** those other companies, after your fight, you go to the back room, all the fighters are in there, and then they write you a check. And for myself, I was probably like the first or second fight of the night. We were in the back room, and we see him paying everybody before us. This guy's getting paid, this guy's getting paid.

**[16:54]** This guy's getting paid. He paid the janitor before us. And after a fight, you just want to go home, see your family, eat, celebrate, but he paid us last. And we were like, there has to be something wrong with him. So a couple days later, my manager called me, and he said that the owner of the company said,

**[17:11]** stop being political. And I was like, how is that being political? He said, don't carry the flag. And I'm just walking out with the flag. I didn't say nothing about it. And this was probably 15 years ago. And I was like, now it hit me that people think about it like that.

**[17:28]** And it annoys people that I carry the flag, right? The people that don't want to see it. So for myself, once I got into the UFC, I said I'm going to carry that flag higher. I'm going to walk out to Dammi Falastini. And obviously, you have the people...

**[17:43]** You have the people that will tell you that the long road that you took was because of it. The long road that you took was because you were representing them.

**[17:58]** They didn't want them represented. They didn't want them on the big board. They didn't think that I would keep winning. But they didn't know that me taking the long road was the best road. It made me better. I fought the best people, and it just kept sharpening me,

**[18:13]** making me hungrier. And it made me have that chip on my shoulder even bigger because I knew that the higher I get, the higher I get to raise the flag. And alhamdulillah, I'm at the highest you can raise the flag right now.

**[18:30]** What's your advice to someone who's young and who's struggling in their space to hold on to their Islam, to hold on to who they are? It feels like it lowers them when they channel and manifest their Islam

**[18:46]** or manifest their identity, especially Palestine. Being pro-Palestinian right now is costly in every career. You could be a doctor. You could be a nurse. You could be a student. We know that these Zionist watch lists are watching everything that people post online.

**[19:01]** What's your advice to someone who feels at times like it's hard, young people in particular, it's hard to be Muslim, it's hard to be pro-Palestinian in their spaces? For me, I think being a Muslim,

**[19:16]** it's the best thing for you, right? Because since you're a kid, you have a discipline built inside of you. We know we have to salli five times a day. We have those time slots that are for Allah, that's for God.

**[19:31]** We trust God. There's a lot of people and a lot of fighters, I feel, that are missing that. They're always looking for what's the next big trick. Everybody knows how to lift weights. Everybody knows how to train striking, grappling, wrestling. But a lot of these people are missing that spiritual element.

**[19:48]** I think that's what separates a lot of the Muslim fighters from all the other fighters. It's because no matter what happens, we know it's meant to happen. I could train whatever I want to train, and I'm not going to be a Muslim. The first time Khabib cornered me, he was so calm in the back room. He was smiling.

**[20:05]** And he was saying, brother, you worked hard. Now it's up to Allah. If He wants you to win, you're going to win. If not, then there's a reason for it. You just have to trust it. And it just put like a sense of confidence inside of me, where it just frees you. Free yourself from the result, where I'm not afraid of getting embarrassed.

**[20:23]** I'm not afraid of losing or getting beat up, because if it does happen, it's meant to happen. And I think that comes, that faith. A lot of people in this world need it. Whether you want to be a doctor or a student, you have a hard test coming up.

**[20:42]** Is it going to sway you away from selling? Is it going to sway you away from being a good person? Because you make promises. I promise if you give me this A on this test, I'll sell you five times a day. But why aren't you doing that already? I'll sell you on time. I'll do this on time. I'll do this. I'll be a better person if you give me this, this, and that.

**[21:02]** And I think that the biggest thing that people in this world need is just the trust. That no matter what happens, it's meant to happen. You fail that test, it was meant to happen. You pass that test, you thank Allah for it. He gives us everything. My success is only through Him.

**[21:19]** And I got to keep repeating that to myself because people look at me and they'll meet me and they'll, you're just a normal person. You're not that big. You're not this. You're not that. And I always think about it and I always say that Allah gave me the grit that's inside of me.

**[21:34]** He gave me the strength that's inside of me. He gave me the power and the cardio to keep going. The mentality to keep going. And I only get that through Him and I only get that through my faith. And I only keep going because of my faith.

**[21:51]** MashAllah. So one of the things that immediately stood out to me, Alhamdulillah, it seems like you have a great relationship with your parents. You talked a lot about your mom and your dad. May Allah protect them and preserve them.

**[22:08]** I think that we're talking about the ingredient of salah. What has the du'a of your parents meant to you as you've been going through this career? I wouldn't be where I am without my parents. The support I get from my family, my brothers, my sister,

**[22:26]** they've seen me from the start. When you're a fighter, it's a lonely road. When you lose, a lot of people, you think everybody's talking about you, right? I'll go to the grocery store and I'll think that this old lady's looking at me because she saw me lose the other day

**[22:42]** and she's laughing at me. Or I'll see the cashier and I'll be like, what are you talking about? My family, those are the ones that no matter win or lose, they're going to be with me. No matter win or lose, they don't care about it. They just care about my health. My mom, she doesn't even watch the fights. She's praying. She's giving dhikr.

**[22:59]** She's doing it for my opponent as well. InshaAllah, none of us get hurt. Neither of us get hurt. Whenever I talk trash to an opponent, she tells me stop doing that. Stop being mean. You're a Muslim. Hold yourself. Be a role model. And I say, for sure. But those are the people that keep me grounded.

**[23:17]** Because being a champion now, a lot of guys, they get lost. You get lost in the fame. You get lost in the social media world. You think I have a million followers. I'm better than you. Or I have this. I'm better than you. But to be able to see my family, to go to my mom's house, to play with Jude, to see him every day,

**[23:35]** it just lets me know who I do it for. If my mom has a smile on her face, my dad has a smile on his face, I'm a success. That's all that matters to me. If my family has a roof over their head, they have food on the table, we're winning.

**[23:50]** No matter all the hate I get on Twitter, all the hate I get on social media, all that noise is blocked out because I know that the people that really love me, the people that really care about me, they'll never say that about me. That's beautiful, mashallah.

**[24:09]** Has anyone ever embraced Islam through knowing you? Or can you talk about some of the da'wah, like someone who actually either came close or embraced Islam as a result of their relationship with you?

**[24:24]** My coach, Lewis Taylor, he's been with me since high school. He's been my older brother, my mentor, but him being around me, being around my family, alhamdulillah, he took a shahada, I would say, four years ago.

**[24:42]** So, to be able to... I always tell people, and I've always done interviews where I say, you don't want to... Don't be a preacher, be a shower. If you want to show them the beauty of the religion, show it through your actions.

**[24:57]** And I think for him being next to me, seeing me pray in the hotel room, or pray in the gym when it's time to pray, seeing it, and just seeing the calmness in myself, I think it just put him in that environment, put him in that mindset as well. And if I rub off on anybody, and if I see anybody,

**[25:16]** and it makes you more religious or a better person, it's a blessing on my part. My roommate, when I was in... About three years ago, his name's Jared Gordon. He wasn't like a great person at the time, right?

**[25:31]** He used to be a drug addict, but he loved fighting, he got into it. But we lived together for three years. And him seeing me pray every single day, it made him want to just get closer to God. He's Christian, but in general, it made him want to find that spiritual end of himself.

**[25:50]** It made him stop a lot of the bad stuff that he was doing. Just to be a part of my journey, and just to see what I'm doing, it made him want to be a better person. And I can just say alhamdulillah for that. Inshallah, one day, he'll look at the religion, and he'll want to learn more about it, and want to be about it.

**[26:05]** But if I just made him stop a lot of the extra stuff that he was doing, I can say alhamdulillah for that as well. Inshallah. That's beautiful, inshallah. So you've had some of these interviews, Joe Rogan, other spaces, where Islam comes up.

**[26:25]** Just talk to me a little bit about how you get yourself ready for those types of things, where you felt like people have changed the perception, like you saw that twinkle in someone's eye, like that click, that talking about Islam actually changed someone. Because everyone does da'wah in their own spaces, right?

**[26:40]** But it's more effective coming from you to some of those people than it would be from someone who's a quote-unquote preacher. So talk a little bit about that, man, like when you use those opportunities to talk about Islam. For myself, like I said, looking up to you and seeing what you do,

**[26:58]** and listening to the podcast that you're always on, and I learned from that. And I want to speak about it in the way that you try to speak about it. So for myself, knowing that I get an opportunity to speak on the biggest podcast in the world with Joe Rogan, and like I said, he looks at me and he looks at other Muslim fighters,

**[27:16]** and he wants to know about the discipline of it, and he wants to learn about why we do this or why we do that, or why we're so into it, or we're so, not like army-based, but it's discipline-based. But we get a lot of that, and I tell him that we get a lot of it from the religion.

**[27:32]** We're just born into it. We learn from it. So for me, if I could teach somebody about it, it's the best. The best part for me is, I've had a couple interviews where they were like atheists, and I always wanted to ask them is, if you're on a desert island, or you're lost at sea,

**[27:50]** you're going to look up, and you're going to think, you're going to ask, who are you going to ask for help, right? You're going to look up to God. And it always like stops them, it always makes them think about it. And the truthful ones will be like, yeah, I would, I would.

**[28:06]** But the fake ones will say, oh, I would just swim, or I would just die, or something like that. But I always wonder, right, when you really want something, when you're at your lowest, all you have is faith. All you have is belief in God.

**[28:21]** And for myself, whether I want something or I don't want something, praying five times a day, I'm not in a state of peace, where I'm not stressing about the world, or stressing about this or stressing about that. When I think about my salah, I think about just stopping the overthinking.

**[28:41]** Because in my line of work, it's, I've got to do this, I've got to do that, I've got to do this, I've got to do that. So those five times a day, I think those are the best times a day for myself, because it just clears my mind, clears my thoughts. And when I'm in those moments of prayer, and I am talking to Allah one-on-one, it feels like it, it just, it separates me from this world.

**[29:05]** And I think whenever I explain that to somebody about the religion, about God, it makes them really want to open their eyes, and make them want to learn more about it. So when you're about to take the mic post-fight, I know a lot of you guys, it's not just you, man,

**[29:22]** a lot of you guys forget what you wanted to say, with the adrenaline and stuff like that. With Palestine, with Gaza in particular, how much has that been factoring into your prep, your mindset, your motivation, when you go into these fights?

**[29:37]** It's huge. For myself, when I'm training and I'm tired, or I wake up one day and I'm sore, I just think about the people over there, how strong they are, how resilient they are. They're fighting for life every single day.

**[29:53]** And I tell myself, I get to drive in a heated car to a heated gym, and I get to play with my friends. It's, my fight is fake, when I think about it. It's just 25 minutes.

**[30:08]** It's nothing. But it gives me the opportunity to put Palestine on the map. It gives me the opportunity for the Palestinian people to celebrate. It gives me the opportunity to show the world how strong we are, how strong we can be.

**[30:24]** There's not a lot of Palestinian athletes. And when I think about it, there's not a lot of people that are willing to carry that flag out there that are from Palestine. So, to be on ESPN, to be on a pay-per-view main card, main event, and to be able to have that flag next to my name, I get that all the time.

**[30:44]** You're born in the U.S. You're born in the U.S. Carry the U.S. flag. I'm always going to carry the Palestinian flag, because they had nobody carry it for them. That's awesome. So, you might not know this.

**[31:00]** Every time you win a fight, I get all these text messages, like people congratulating me because they think you're my brother-in-law. So, for those of you that don't know, alhamdulillah, my brother-in-law is Abdelkarim El Silwadi, the pride of Palestine, also a fighter.

**[31:15]** Wears the Palestine shorts, trains with Bilal, mashallah. You've been a great older brother to him as well. A great mentor to him. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward you. Hopefully, he'll be the second Palestinian champ, inshallah. But just to sort of drive it home, what's a prayer?

**[31:33]** What's a du'a? What's a part of the Quran that you have found speaking so much to you? Even if it's your own du'a. As you're going through your hardest moments. Story of a prophet, just something that really gets you personally from the Quran.

**[31:48]** A du'a that you make, something that really hits you. And you can think about it. For myself, obviously I would think the battle of Badr, right?

**[32:07]** They were the underdogs. Nobody thought they could do it. And for them to be victorious with their faith and their strength, I always look back to that story. Because my last six fights, I've been an underdog.

**[32:22]** I've been the smallest. I've been the guy that nobody thought would win or be where I am today. And to have faith in myself, faith in my training, faith in my coaches, and faith that no matter what happens, Allah put me here for that reason.

**[32:37]** Put me as the underdog for that reason. To be a story for the next generation, for these younger kids, who I'm just a normal body, right? I'm not huge, I'm not big, I'm not blessed with height, size, weight. I'm just like you.

**[32:53]** But I have hard work, I have deen, I have faith. And with that, anything is possible. Inshallah. Takbir. Allahu Akbar. All right, we've got 10 seconds. Is there any sport in the world that I could beat you in?

**[33:11]** I was going to say who would win in a fight? I think I have reach on you. That's pretty much it. Maybe pickleball. Pickleball. I'm telling you, I was going to be in the NBA. If it wasn't for my parents not putting me in the NBA camps, I would have made it.

**[33:28]** You would have been in the NBA, inshallah. JazakAllah khair, Bilal. We're really proud of you. May Allah protect you, grant you health, grant you victory in this life and the next. May Allah bless you and bless your parents. Allahumma ameen. JazakAllah khair.

**[33:50]** Al-Fatiha.

## Other Episodes in "Confident Muslim"
- [“I Fear Allah Only.” - Ambry Thomas | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/i-fear-allah-only-ambry-thomas-confident-muslim.md)
- [Risking It All For What You Believe In - Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/risking-it-all-for-what-you-believe-in-mahmoud-abdul-rauf-confident-muslim.md)
- [Living as a Muslim in Recovery: Finding Your Place with Abdirahman Warsame | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/living-as-a-muslim-in-recovery-finding-your-place-with-abdirahman-warsame-confident-muslim.md)
- [Rising Above Injustice - Dr. Yusef Salaam | Confident Muslim | Yaqeen Institute at MASCON2021](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/rising-above-injustice-dr-yusef-salaam-confident-muslim.md)
- [Victory through Sacrifice - Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/victory-through-sacrifice-bilqis-abdul-qaadir-confident-muslim.md)
- [Speaking through Service - Rami Nashashibi | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/speaking-through-service-rami-nashashibi-confident-muslim.md)
- [Enabled by Faith - Sara Minkara | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/enabled-by-faith-sara-minkara-confident-muslim.md)
- [Breaking Barriers without Breaking Principles - Tahera Rahman | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/breaking-barriers-without-breaking-principles-tahera-rahman-confident-muslim.md)
- [Unity, Humanity, and Identity - Councilman Basheer Jones  | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/councilman-basheer-jones-confidentmuslim.md)
- [On Finding Your Purpose and Investing in the Youth - Ibn Ali Miller | Confident Muslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/on-finding-your-purpose-and-investing-in-the-youth-ibn-ali-miller-confidentmuslim.md)
- [#ConfidentMuslim Ryan Harris on Cherishing Your Muslim Identity](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/confidentmuslim-ryan-harris-on-cherishing-your-muslim-identity.md)
- [#ConfidentMuslim Shaffin Siddiqui on Using Your Skills to Help Others](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/confidentmuslim-shaffin-siddiqui-on-using-your-skills-to-help-others.md)
- [#ConfidentMuslim Salman Abdul Majeed on Prioritizing Others Over Ourselves](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/confidentmuslim-salman-abdul-majeed-on-prioritizing-others-over-ourselves.md)
- [#ConfidentMuslim Heraa Hashmi on MuslimsCondemn.com](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/confidentmuslim-heraa-hashmi-on-muslimscondemn-com.md)
- ["Teach Me From That Which Allah Has Taught You" - Mohammad Ouyoun #ConfidentMuslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/teach-me-from-that-which-allah-swt-has-taught-you-mohammad-ouyoun-confidentmuslim.md)
- [Helping Those Who Have Nothing - Abd Al-Rahman Traboulsi #ConfidentMuslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/helping-those-who-have-nothing-abd-al-rahman-traboulsi-confidentmuslim.md)
- [Building (The Difficult) Bridges - Nabeel Alauddin #ConfidentMuslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/building-the-difficult-bridges-nabeel-alauddin-confidentmuslim.md)
- [Getting to Know Your Neighbor - Ummesalmah Abdulbaseer #ConfidentMuslim](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/getting-to-know-your-neighbor-ummesalmah-abdulbaseer-confidentmuslim.md)
- [Confident Muslim - A Yaqeen Institute Initiative](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/confident-muslim-a-yaqeen-institute-initiative.md)
- [Confident Muslim - ICNA 2017](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/confident-muslim/confident-muslim-icna-2017.md)