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Victory through Sacrifice - Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir | Confident Muslim
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This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Bismillah walhamdulillah wa salatu wasalam wa rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So, last year I had the opportunity, alhamdulillah, to go with my family on a civil rights pilgrimage. Civil rights pilgrimage where you go through all the sites of the civil rights movement, particularly in the southern experience. And subhanAllah, when we went there, it was the anniversary, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And we actually went to Memphis when, you know, at the same spot, at the Lorraine Motel, at that very moment 50 years ago, where they talked about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We went through Mississippi, where Emmett Till was thrown into a river, stood in the blood of Medgar Evers, that still stains the carport of his home in Mississippi, to Selma, walking through the bridge, through Birmingham, through Montgomery, actually sat in the living room of the Freedom Riders, where they used to sit and meet. And it was a profound experience. And my 8-year-old daughter at the time, who's 9 now, had the most profound experience, not in actually looking through the past, but in something that took place in the present. So while we were in Memphis, I reached out to Sister Bilqis Abdelkader, and I asked her to meet us after the MLK 50, where we were going to go to a barbecue spot, a halal barbecue spot, by the way, just making that clear. And she came out and talked about her experience, particularly struggling with the hijab and all of the struggles that have come with her pursuing her career in basketball while trying to observe hijab. And that 20 minutes of her speaking had such an impact on the people that came, the interfaith clergy that were there, that they referenced that as probably one of the best moments of the trip
because they got to see a living example of someone that was striving and struggling to hold true to their principles in hostile places. And my daughter, subhanallah, was so moved by that experience that when this year came around and all the children at school had to choose someone to be, she chose to be Bilqis Abdelkader. So she wore her Anthony Davis Pelicans jersey, which those of you that are basketball fans know that I need to buy her a Zion one now. And she wore her hijab and she memorized Bilqis' bio from start to finish. She made a nice little display board and she talked about it with such confidence and such pride. And that was a moment for her as a young girl that has begun to observe hijab on her own to really find a hero that she could look up to, alhamdulillah, rabbil alamin. And so inshallah, I'm going to introduce sister Bilqis and we're going to play a video and then have her come up inshallah and talk about her experience, followed by a Q&A. From a young age, Bilqis knew she wanted basketball to be a part of her life. After first picking up a ball at the age of four at a local YMCA, Bilqis' love for the game began. Living in a practicing Muslim household, Bilqis was to follow her religious beliefs as she grew older. She began wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering for Muslim women, and practiced modesty on the court by covering all skin except for her hands. She took her skills into a full-ride scholarship to the University of Memphis where she played for four years between the years of 2009 and 2013 and graduated with a degree in exercise science. Her goal was to continue playing professionally in Europe, but quickly ended due to the International Basketball Federation rule prohibiting headgear larger than five inches.
Unwilling to strain her beliefs, Bilqis chose faith over basketball and became an advocate working alongside other Muslim players who began a Change.org petition and with Shirzanan Media and Advocacy Organization as an athlete ambassador. Through an op-ed published by Time and open letters signed by Olympic retired and professional athletes, high-level speaking engagements and interviews with BBC Sport and their 55 million strong audience, Bilqis raised her voice for the next generation and effectively forced FIBA to uplift the band. Bilqis is currently living in London, Ontario, Canada with her husband working at London Islamic School. They also run their basketball program called Dribbling Down Barriers, hosting camps and clinics for the youth in the US and Canada. Insha'Allah ta'ala we will play a short video about Bilqis and then have her come up. Zag me lacher. I'm trying to think how I can word it because it's really just a feeling that I feel. Everything that I have is just two years ago. And in a way, you still kind of tell them the same story. And I think that opportunity opened up our play. But I'm still kind of battling that battle. It was a historic night in Springfield. Senior Bilqis Abdul-Qadir blew Rebecca Lobo's scoring record out of the water. I mean anything is possible. Never give up. Practice. Your dreams come true, basically. I literally graduated, went home, gathered all my bags and went to the airport. I just can't believe how fast things were going. Where's Bilqis? Right here. Stand up Bilqis. I want everybody to know she's got heels on. She's 5'5".
She's an athlete on her way to Memphis. Bilqis is an inspiration not simply to Muslim girls. She's an inspiration to all of us. Bilqis Abdul-Qadir has been invited to the Pro-Am Combines. These events give the top college seniors in the country a chance to be evaluated by foreign coaches. I was just trying to play. For the first time in her playing career, Bilqis Abdul-Qadir has hit a roadblock. Basketball's governing body, FIBA, has ruled that bans players from wearing equipment that may cause injury to others, including headwear, hair accessories, and jewelry. In the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, for these historic figures, just as for the other 5 million-plus Muslims in the United States, this has been an especially visible month, when their faith and world events have echoed across American society, making this question a complex one to answer. What is it like to be a Muslim athlete in the United States today? It's hard being a young Muslim woman in America. It takes strength to walk outside and look different than everybody else. I pray that it gets better, but I think, you know, there's so many mindsets that would have to be changed. People kind of look at you different when they see Muslim women. They have this stereotype that they're quiet, that they're submissive, that they're not supposed to do these certain things. Everybody thinks, yeah, it's just a sport. But when I play basketball, I worry about nothing. It takes me out of real life. I was going to finish school. I was going to play basketball. I was going to do all this stuff, and now it's just like a huge question mark. Right now, I don't know who I am.
Am I anybody without basketball? You know. Or am I still myself? As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. The lights are really bright. So, bismillahirrahmanirrahim. First, I just would like to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for allowing us all to be here this afternoon in good health and good spirit. I pray that everybody's enjoying the conference so far. And of course, a super special thanks to Sheikh Omar Suleiman. When he messaged me to come to this, I was like, what? Sheikh Omar Suleiman is asking me to come somewhere? Absolutely. So, I'm just honored to be here. And the story he told about his daughter actually being me for a school project, I was back there getting goosebumps. So, that was just beautiful to me. So, I was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, an inner city where the majority is the minority. It's also known as the birthplace of basketball. Many people don't know that. So, growing up, I was the youngest of eight. My parents are two people who converted or reverted to Islam. And they homeschooled myself and the rest of my siblings. So, my parents didn't really trust the public school system that we had. We didn't have any Islamic schools nearby. So, my mother decided to teach us at home.
But one thing about being in Springfield is the opportunity for the minority was not there. And I like to kind of say there was only one way out. And basketball or sport was the only way out for African-American youth in the inner city that I lived in. So, the rest of my four sisters and three brothers played basketball. And it was almost innate for me to go ahead and pick up the ball. I remember playing, probably started at four years old. My parents bought me, you know, the little plastic hoop that you can kind of raise up and down. I don't know if anybody has that. Anybody has that at home? Okay. Nice. We have some hoopers here. So, my parents bought me that hoop and they put it in our dining room. And my older brothers would come in there with me thinking that I was thinking they were going to help teach me. And I would go wherever they would get on their knees and every time I shot a ball, they would smack it across the room. And, you know, in the end, of course, I didn't like it then, but in the end, it really helped me gain that confidence and get that strength to be able to play on the court. So, at four years old, it started off as just something I liked to do. As the years go on, I was kind of naturally good at it. I would watch my brothers play. I would try to do all the crossovers and the fadeaway jump shots that they would do. And I just looked up to them so much. And I decided to continue on and play. So, back then, and I'm not that old, but back then, there weren't a lot of girls' programs. So, my parents let me play with boys. I played with boys. Every boys' team that I played on, I was the only girl. Of course, the only Muslim girl as well. But I remember playing against the boys and the boys used to hate me. They'd be like, don't pass her the ball. Or if I made a shot, my teammates even didn't really like that I got a little shine. I was kind of better than the rest of them. But they respected me. That was one thing they did, they respected me.
However, at the age of 12 or 13, of course, my parents were like, all right, no more playing with boys. There's girls' teams. So, I went ahead and started playing with girls. However, I remember having a very serious conversation with my parents. I was only 12 or 13. They sat me down and they said, look, Bill Keese, we can't afford college. So, you're going to have to find a way to get a scholarship. And they knew that basketball was an avenue towards that. And I'm looking at them and I'm like, okay, they can't afford college. I know that I can get a scholarship if I'm good at it. And at that age, it became a grind. It became my job because I did not want to see my parents financially struggle any more than they already were. I was the youngest of eight. So, there were a lot of them they had to send to college. So, at that moment, I remember always having a basketball, dribbling it up and down my sidewalk during my home school time, going to the local park, still playing with the boys, watching my brothers. I remember I used to sleep with a basketball because I would lay in my bed and I would practice my form laying on my back. And it just became a part of me. You know, people say ball is life, the hashtag. Anybody heard of the hashtag ball is life? That was literally me. I ate it. I breathed it. I slept it. So, alhamdulillah, at around eighth grade, my mom and dad decided to send me to school. So, I was home schooled all the way up until eighth grade. When I went to school, I looked like everybody else. I blended in. I didn't wear a hijab at the time. And I ended up joining the varsity team. I made the team, but just a quick disclaimer, my school was a trailer probably from stage to end of the stage, maybe to the wall to wall. I'm not going to exaggerate. However, it was a very small school. The basketball program wasn't good and I ended up making the team.
So, I became this outstanding basketball player at eighth grade playing on the varsity team. My first game, I scored 43 points. And it was amazing. I was in a newspaper and I'm like, this is cool, man. What is going on here? So, eighth grade was amazing. The next year, things changed. I was a freshman in high school. I started to wear hijab. So, in my household, my mother in particular said, when you reach the age of puberty, it's time for you to wear it. So, I didn't have a choice. It wasn't if I'm ready yet. It was as soon as it happened, I was wearing hijab whether I liked it or not. That was her way of doing it. And if I lived under her roof, that was it. So, I remember going to school the first day as a freshman and I was like, this is the worst day of my life. My head was down on my desk. I was usually the fun one in class. I made people laugh, things like that. And I was just not myself at all. And I remember where I did feel comfortable was on the basketball court. So, the season rolled around and we're trying to figure out how I was going to wear my hijab. At the time, there was no under armor, no dry fit, no Nike combat gear. It was cotton sweatpants and a long cotton shirt. It was very, very hot however I made it through. But I remember my first game stepping out on the court and people didn't even know who I was. They knew my name, but I did look different. And the first couple of games, of course, I'm ready to play. I'm out on the court, ready to ball out, help my team win. I remember walking in gyms and people staring at me. People kind of laughing and pointing and kind of nudging the person next to them like, who is that? Look what she has on. There were times when I was taking out the ball on the sideline and I remember this game like it was yesterday. It was a rowdy game and I was right in front of the fan section. And one of the kids yells out, you look like Osama Bin Laden's niece.
And I'm like, bro, first of all, that's the worst joke in the world. Because who knows what his niece looks like, first of all. Second of all, it was just terrible. But those are the things that people would say. And I used to use that as fuel to just play even harder, of course. But in retrospect, it was tough. But I remember feeling strong and feeling confident on the court, no matter how I looked. So I used basketball as my crutch and it helped me get through so many hard times. So fast forward to receiving a full scholarship to a Division I, I'm sorry, Division I university. I went to the University of Memphis. And when you get recruited, it's like a business. I don't know if anybody knows much about college sports. But the coaches sell you a dream. They say we have multimillion dollar facilities. You're sponsored by Nike. You get what you want. We travel across the world. And we did have all of that and we did do all of that. However, when you get there, things kind of changed. Unfortunately, my situation was very difficult. It was a tumultuous journey in college. Hamneet Lail was the first Muslim woman to wear a hijab in Division I. And it was a journey. I'm not going to go too deep into that. However, I finally reached the goal of getting a Division I scholarship. My parents didn't pay a penny. Actually, the school used to give us money to help us buy food, to buy clothes and all the essentials. So I came out of college debt free. And that's what I took from that, Hamneet Lail. It was a great experience. So, thank you. So I transferred out of the University of Memphis due to a few coaching changes and a very difficult situation. So I ended up transferring to Indiana State for my senior year where I played very, very well. I felt like myself on the court again.
And when the season ended, I was like getting ready to try out for either the WNBA or FIBA. And for those who don't know what FIBA is, it's basically the basketball version of FIFA. Really like the NBA in Europe. It's huge. Big in the Olympics. I mean, if you look at it now, they're doing the FIBA World Cup. So it's huge. I ended up picking up an agent. And an agent is a person that helps you get a job overseas. So they find the best possible fit for you, where the most money is, the best country for you to live in. And over there, it's very, very nice to live. Especially when you're a pro athlete. So I had the skills. I had the footage. All you have to do is send some DVDs over to the coaches or the clubs over in Europe or wherever country you are. And they pick you up if they like you. So one day my agent calls me and she's like, hey, Bill Keese, I think we may have a little problem. FIBA has a rule that bans certain headpieces or headgear. You can't wear anything larger than a headband. And so I'm like, oh, it's no problem. Let's just tell them that I'm Muslim. I choose to wear it. I can sign a waiver. I thought it was that simple. It turned out that it wasn't. And that's when things got a little shaky for me. And so we did a petition. Myself and another Muslim woman did a petition. We got over 100,000 signatures thinking that was going to move the bar a little bit. FIBA was like, it doesn't matter. You can get all the signatures you want. We don't make changes until the board meets if we want to make that change. So after going back and forth through email with FIBA and a few representatives, communication just stopped. And at this point, FIBA just started to ignore everything. That's when it set in that I wasn't going to play basketball and that my career may have been over.
And when you're an athlete and when you commit your entire life to something, whatever your profession is, your heart is in it. And at that moment, I was known as the Muslim basketball player. And that's how people knew me, on social media. In videos, when I would walk around, they were like, that's the Muslim girl who could hoop. But once basketball was taken away, I was just a Muslim. And that's when things started to set in. Was I doing that part of it right? So I remember at this crossroad when I could have easily taken off my hijab to go play, I had those thoughts. And I remember not really sharing that with anybody. I was in grad school at the time. I was working with my old basketball team that I played for in college. And I remember having these feelings of, man, I can just take it off for the 40 minutes of the game over there and then put it back on after. Nobody knows me in the country that I might go play in. Like, these were the thoughts that I was having. People would give me advice, the same type of advice, like, yeah, just take it off. Doesn't it? Does it matter that much? Of course, these were kind of non-Muslims saying this. Or, you know, it's okay. Like, this is your dream. You made it. You're really going to stop it because a piece of scarf, a piece of material? Subhanallah, like, when people would say that to me, of course my immediate reaction would be no, you know, it means more than that. The scarf is a symbol of who I am. And I would give them the textbook Islamic answer. But in my heart, I wasn't feeling it. At one point, I was ready to sign a contract and go overseas. But I knew that something in my heart didn't feel right. And all the advice that people, that pretty much humans were giving me, weren't fixing it. And I remember at that time questioning Allah. I was questioning a Sam. Again, I was questioning hijab.
I was like, why would Allah take away what I'm good at, what I loved, what I worked hard for? And when I reached the point where I was right there at the pinnacle of my dream, just take it away. That was the thoughts. I was questioning Allah's will, his plan. So I remember the only thing that I could do was pray. And regardless of how much I was questioning Islam, of course, the only way I knew how to pray was Islamically. So I remember this prayer like it was yesterday with Allah. And if I could go back to the feeling that I had when I prayed this Salah, I was in sujood and I felt like I couldn't get up. And I'm praying this prayer and my head was stuck to the ground. And that's when I knew I was like, you know what, Allah, I need guidance. Because I don't know what to do anymore. And I was praying and I was stuck. I swear I could feel like the blood rushing towards my head. Like that's how long I was staying down there because that's how much guidance I needed. And I remember praying that prayer, finishing that prayer. I swear by Allah that I remember this. A day later, I was called to speak to youth in Indiana. This is Sunday school. Then a week later, I was invited out to another Islamic school. Things just started happening and it was so much good. And I was like, what is going on? And then what really hit me was when I was going to a basketball game one night with my friends. And at the time, I used to wear my hijab in a turban style. Right? And traditionally in my household, the neck should be covered. Right? So when I played, I would wear it in the turban style. And I just kind of got adapted to that way. I felt more comfortable that way. And I honestly didn't feel pretty with it wrapped around this way.
So I remember getting dressed to go out with my teammates to go to this game. And I'm struggling with trying to put my hijab on. So I'm like, it's not going on right. You know how we have those struggle hijab days. And so I'm like, my friends are like, you got five minutes. Come on, let's go. So I took it and I just draped it around just how we would normally wear it. So I went into the gym and every person I walked by was like, Kesey, I like your scarf like that. It looks really pretty. And I'm looking like, bro, it's not even pinned up. Like, no way you don't like it like this. Every person I walked by, wow, Kesey, that looks really nice. You should wear like that more often. And I'm like, this has to be a joke. Like inside, I'm like, I'm going through all this stuff, islamically trying to figure out who I am. And I don't know what it was for people to tell me that I looked good with my hijab, traditionally the right way for me. And that was what I needed to confirm what Allah was doing for me. Allah tested me with basketball. He tested me with what I loved to see if I was going to choose Islam. And it's crazy because when you're born into Islam, can you, I'm going to ask this, raise your hand if you are a revert or a convert to Islam in this room. Can you raise your hand high? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I think maybe 10. My husband is also someone who converted to Islam. And let me tell you the beauty about when you convert or revert to Islam. When you are a revert, you get to fall in love with the religion. You get to choose the religion. You get to choose Allah. You get to choose the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, to be your leader. When we're born into it, it's like autopilot. It's a blessing. We don't know that it's a blessing, but it's, oh, make your five prayers.
Oh, fast the month of Ramadan, but why? Oh, you can't have a boyfriend, but why? Oh, you can't do this, but why? And nobody tells us the why. Right? But when you convert to Islam, you change your life. And regardless of whether you reverted or were born into it, you're going to be tested, and one day you're going to have to choose your Islam. And I pray that each and every one of us has a test that brings us closer to Allah. And if you don't have that test, if you weren't tested and you just love Allah just internally and naturally, subhanAllah, may Allah continue to put that feeling in your heart. But what I do want to say is that prayer saved my life, and I know how hard it is to make your five prayers. I know how hard it is. But for the young people in the room, even for the adults, I'm not even going to just put it to the youth. Let me tell you a post I read a long time ago, and I always refer to it, and it's a reminder to myself first. But I was reading a post about Salah, and it said, all five Fard prayers take, I'm going to let somebody guess, how long do you think it takes? Just yell a number out. I heard 45 minutes. What? 20. I think it said something around 48 minutes, all together throughout your day. Throughout the 24 hours that we have, Allah is asking us to give him 48 minutes, less than an hour. And you know what we do sometimes? The Adhan comes up on our phone, we scroll up the notification, oh, we'll pray in a second. Then that second turns to minutes, and then we got two minutes left to pray Asr. Or we're just putting things before our Salah. One thing I learned through my journey is that prayer keeps you grounded. When I was in college, I was around non-Muslims all the time. And I'm not saying anything's wrong with non-Muslims, but people who just didn't have any belief
system. Every day it was a battle for me to walk into my living room and see a party going on, and them handing me a drink saying, go ahead, just sip a little bit. It tastes like fruit punch. Or them smoking weed in the living room. This is real life. That was real life for me. And to have to battle that every day. One thing that I took from my parents, no matter how far I fell off the path, no matter all the mistakes I made, I prayed Salah. And I know that's one thing my mother and father were making do that I made sure I did when I moved thousands of miles away. But for the parents in the room, pray with your children. I remember growing up and my mother used to pour a gallon of water on my head and my brother's head to wake me up for Fajr. Wake them up for Fajr. Make it a point to pray with your children. And for the kids, for the youth, even for my age or the younger, don't lie and say that you've prayed. Because I know sometimes your parents will call up to you and say, come down and pray, I already prayed. But you're up there chilling on the video game or on your cell phone. Or you might say, OK, let me just get up and act like I prayed. And you pray one of these. What is that? Take your time. Embrace the meeting that you have with Allah. And I pray that Allah continues to strengthen us because we need it. Don't fall short anymore. This world is ugly. And if we don't have the youth as strong individuals, as strong Muslims, as confident Muslims, then we're going to fall apart. So don't be afraid, brothers. Don't be afraid to wear a kufi to your job. Don't be afraid to wear a thawb. Sisters, don't be afraid to wear your hijab if you're struggling with it. Don't open it up. Don't loosen it up. Put it tighter. Because in these times, we need it. And keep your salah close. Keep it close.
Jazakallah khairan. Assalamu alaikum. Turn this, inshallah. Masha'Allah. So I think they can see why you inspired my daughter the way that you did, alhamdulillah. And just to give you guys the, subhanallah, the pastors that were on that trip were just bawling in tears listening to your story, even though they weren't Muslim, I think just relating to the deep faith experience that you had, alhamdulillah, with this. So I think the beauty of this story is that you're not shying away from imperfections along the way, the stumbling blocks, right? But using them to sort of grow. And I think that's the mind of an athlete, alhamdulillah. So you kind of brought that same mentality to faith to use that. So you want to talk a little bit about that, inshallah? Yeah. So that is actually a very important point that you made about using basketball and what I learned from basketball and translate that into Islam, essentially. Because I remember when you're an athlete, you have to step outside of your comfort zone every second on the floor, every second in practice, a game, whatever the case may be. And the discipline, the focus, the effort, the leadership is literally what we should have as a foundation as a Muslim. And I think that's one thing that I still take from basketball that I appreciate that basketball gave me. And even the coaches that I had throughout my career, they really helped instill that. And then I'm like, man, this is Islam. You know, it makes it even easier. So yeah, definitely basketball was that help for me to lay that foundation.
So I think, masha'Allah, you know, yourself, Sister Iftihaj, who are the only two people that my daughter wanted to meet when they came, is like you and Iftihaj Mohammed, you know, and masha'Allah, just the way that you wear that faith literally in these difficult places, but at the same time, again, become a hero and inspire in the process. In your Islamic school setting right now, so you're at an Islamic school and you were at an Islamic school in Memphis and now you're there. How are you connecting to the kids over there? I mean, are you able to have those deeper conversations with them about salah, about prayer, about hijab, about these things that you spoke about just now in this presentation? Yes, actually, Islamic schools are beautiful. And they're beautiful for a lot of ways, but they're actually difficult because when you're placing a child into an environment where everybody's Muslim, it just becomes, like I said, a routine. So there's no struggle to stand out. Everybody's Muslim. Everybody's together after lunch. Everybody wears hijab. So when they step outside of those four walls, that's when the challenge comes. And there are a few, actually a few people in here from London who I know personally and that actually go to a London Islamic school. So they'll know, and actually from Memphis as well, right in the front row. So they will tell you that I sit down and have raw and honest conversations with them. And I give them examples of the things that I went through and struggled with because I want them to know reality. And I want them to know what it's like once you leave this Islamic school, that you're going to meet people who you might like to be around, but they don't do the same things that we do. And if you're having dinner, you're going to have to sometimes leave out to go pray. And it's going to be awkward. But if you set that bar high, and that's what I always tell them, with your non-Muslim friends, set the bar high, lay out any answers that they need so that they understand you.
And one thing I know I did in college was I prayed in front of my teammates. And after I would finish, sometimes they would just watch me. Sometimes they would ask, could they pray with me? And then sometimes when I was in the locker room praying, they would actually walk in and know not to walk in front of me. And subhanAllah, they would just be like, oh, Kisi's praying, be quiet, you guys. So I realized that I set that standard, and I had that respect for my teammates. And that's what I just ask them to do, the students at the Islamic school, is to just be real with your people and be strong in who you are. And it's a struggle. But inshallah. I think always people connect to a personal story. Can you think of a personal story where you inspired or you walked a young Muslim that was struggling with their faith through a difficult moment using your own experience and drawing on your own experience? There's actually a few. So there's a few. A lot just came to my mind. I would think about this one Muslim sister who's actually in Canada. And I spoke at this Islamic, they call it the Tarbiyah Conference, and talked about my story, talked about struggling with hijab. And she came up to me and she found me, because I always sometimes try to hide because they'll like bombard me. It's nice at the moment, but I needed a break at that moment. And she came and found me, and she was like, can I just talk to you? And I was like, yeah. And she just laid out all of her struggles. And I was like, I don't know who this little girl is, but she's telling me all her deepest, darkest secrets. And she was like, I'm going to start wearing hijab today. Fully. She already had it on, but of course it was just for Islamic school. And she said, I want to just wear hijab full time because of what you said. And when I hear things like that, or stories about your daughter, it keeps me going.
Because sometimes I question my purpose. And I think it's natural for humans to do that, but it's hard sometimes. You know? Having to have those stories, and when young girls, especially young girls, come up to me and share that, it keeps me going. So I had the chance to meet your husband when we came to Memphis. Where is he at? Is he back here? He's probably, oh, he's over there. I see him. What are you doing sitting all the way back there? He does that. He does that. Whenever I speak. So Alhamdulillah, I think meeting him was wonderful, Mashallah. And you guys play basketball together, right? So he coaches you and you play together. So who wins? Number one, who's better at ball, you or him? Number two, I saw, so I joined, I'm new on Instagram. And I joined Instagram because there was a scammer that was using my name that was getting money out of people. So I joined Instagram. I initially tried to join, by the way, they didn't let me join because they said I'm an imposter of the guy that was stealing money in my name. So Alhamdulillah, we rectified that. And I followed you on Instagram, and I see this video of you popping a three in a pickup game and your husband kind of, he just did this, like he knew it was going to go in and advance. So how is that, Mashallah? You both work at Islamic schools and coach together and things of that sort. Tell us a little bit about that, Mashallah. So a shout out to my husband for sure. Alhamdulillah for him. I honestly didn't think I was going to get married and Subhanallah Allah will send you the correct and right person at the right time. And so he knows he kind of saved my Islam as well. So thank you. But aside from that, he actually is a very, he won't say this about himself, Mashallah,
he's very humble, but he actually is a very prominent basketball coach in Memphis, Tennessee, has sent multiple young girls to Division I, Division II, Division III on scholarships, full scholarships to really schools of their choice. And a lot of his athletes were young girls from single parent homes. So Mashallah, he's really good, really, really good. Aside from that, we don't play often because we get too competitive. Honestly, like there are times when I played and he goes at me, I go at him. I'm not going to say who wins and who loses because I want to keep that between us. However, we can't play too much because we'll bring it home and that's just not good for the marriage at this point. But Alhamdulillah, he's my trainer. He takes it too far sometimes, but I'm grateful for him. But to have that connection, that really basketball kind of brought us together and then just get to know him as who he is as a man, Alhamdulillah for him. So it's kind of going to be like Rocky and Apollo, that hidden fight. And we'll just have to find out when they make a movie about you later on, Inshallah. Exactly. We'll find out who won the game, the behind the scenes, the one that no one saw. What's your, when you're thinking about now, the growth in particular, what's your trajectory, Inshallah, where do you really want to see the full extent, Inshallah, of inspiring people towards Islam and to not shy away from their Islam and to use their Islam and to be proud of it? Like what's your 10 year plan, Inshallah, where do you see yourself, Inshallah, taking this? That's a deep one.
Honestly, my goal is to have any young Muslim girl, any young Muslim woman, Muslim woman in general, be able to walk on any playing field, soccer, basketball, volleyball, and it be normal. And it not be, oh my gosh, she has a scarf on, oh my gosh, she's Muslim. I want them to be looked at as athletes and let their iman just show through stepping on the court in hijab or fully covered or whatever the case may be. And I want it to just be normalized in a way because it's tough sometimes when you're walking in a gym and people not pick you up because they don't think you can play. I still experience that. And the video you're referring to was in Canada and we just randomly pulled up to a park on our bikes and the guys are like, I'm in Fulubaya at this point because we just came out of Juma and I didn't have time to change so I kind of put a knot in it and AW was like, come on, let's play with them, a whole bunch of young teenage boys. And they're kind of looking at me like, yeah, okay, this is not, they thought it was a joke. So I hit the first shot and they were like, oh my gosh, somebody guard the girl, guard the girl. And so it's funny, but I want it to just be normal. And inshallah through the work that we're doing in Canada and in the States, we just, I want to just empower young Muslim girls to just play, not even be great at it, whatever sport they are, they play just to be good at it and be confident and know that when you step into these places, you are allowing people to ask you questions about who you are and that just breaks down a barrier immediately. And that's what I learned when I would step on courts, people will come up to me after the game once they saw that I could play and they'd be like, excuse me, can I just ask you why you have that on? And then that just opens the doors to explain Islam in like five minutes.
So I think that's my goal through the sports programs that we run, through the classes that I teach and inshallah, Allah will place barakah in it and continue it on. So I would ask you to do the Islam in five minutes pitch for us, but maybe we'll get that another time inshallah, because maybe it can help us at Yaqeen inshallah and how to explain it. But non-Muslim friends who saw you through this whole process, right? So there are people that you've known, obviously your old teammates and friends that saw you grow, go through the difficulty. You mentioned a lot, right? You mentioned your hijab change, you mentioned your faith struggle, you mentioned all these, this period of transformation, right? And then getting to the point that you're at now, what's their perception like? I mean, are they the people that have known you for the last eight, 10 years that saw you through it? What's their perception like? And is there anything that particularly from those experiences, right, keeps you going? Because sometimes seeing that you really changed someone's perception on Islam in that sense, a friend who saw you through it gives you some strength and something to draw from. So there's actually two people that I thought of immediately was my grad school roommate, and she saw me through the ugly ugly. And through my journey and through my changes, she changed as well in her own faith. And we still talk now. And she's like, you remember the day when you said you had to pray, and so I went in my room and prayed too? And I was like, yeah, I remember that. And just to have those little instances that are reminders, and now she's still godly. She still is a believer in her faith, and she's doing what she needs to do. And she always tells me that, thanks for what you went through, because I went through it too, in a way.
And then there was another one of my teammates, actually. This is when I was still in college, and we were at a Dave and Buster's. And these are the awkward times where I have to leave the group to go pray. So I was like, hey, Jazz, I'm going to go find a room somewhere, like one of the meeting rooms or the party rooms to go pray. And she's like, all right, I'll come with you. And then my other teammate says, I'm going to come with you guys too. So I get there, and I thought they were just going to chill in the back. And this is what I mentioned earlier, who they prayed with me. So they both asked, do you mind if we just pray with you? And I was like, you want to do the motions too? And they're like, yeah. So I remember it being so awkward, because it was mockery, but I had to pray out loud. And I'm like, they don't even know what I'm saying. This is going to be weird. So I just tried to keep my cool. We made it through salaam. I prayed. And, well, I vicar, I'm sorry. They sat there with me. And then they didn't say much. At the moment, they didn't say anything at all. Four years later, one of my teammates messages me. And she goes, randomly, we hadn't talked in a long time. She messaged me and says, hey, Keese, you remember that time I prayed with you? And I was like, yeah, Dave and Buster? She was like, yeah. And she said, no lie, that was the most peace I've ever felt in my life. And I just teared up immediately. And I'm reading the text, and I'm shaking. And I'm like, it is making me feel a little emotional, jittery now. And I was like, subhanAllah, that right there, to get those types of messages and reminders is amazing. And now she just read Malcolm X. So now she's texting me, and she's like, hey, what Quran should I read? Every other two weeks, three weeks, she's hitting me up and asking about a slam. So make dua for her, because she's on the verge. She's on the verge.
So I'm like, subhanAllah. I think that when you meet a lot of athletes in particular, athletes and celebrities, you see a lot of emptiness. And people are looking for something. I haven't felt that peace in all those years. People are really looking for something. And I think that you're a testimony to that, mashallah, that while a lot of other people move on in their careers and things of that sort, what you have is so much more precious. And I think that's the main lesson here, is that you didn't really lose, you won. You passed the test, alhamdulillah. You actually increased in your iman and your faith as a result of it. And you had a low point, but all of us are going to go through those low points. And the point is, is how you end. And so may Allah keep you firm and keep you steadfast, keep you upon this, inshallah, and allow you to keep inspiring and allow you to be an example, not just for our Muslim youth but for everyone as to what it means to be fulfilled and have purpose in everything that you're doing in life. Allahumma ameen. So just last question. Who's your team? Who's going to win the finals? Oh, goodness. I'm a Boston fan at heart because that's where I'm from. However, I'm a Steph Curry fan. So if Steph wins, I'm all right. And the reason why I love Steph, and my husband hates when I say this, he's a real, like, my husband is really extra about players. So he looks deeper than just the person. He's like, oh, he can't cross over left or he's all of this. But one thing I respect about Steph Curry is that he doesn't shy away from showing his faith. Whenever he hits a three, he points up to the sky. On his Instagram, he's constantly writing verses from the Bible. And you don't see that, number one, in a lot of African-American men, especially a pro athlete like him. So I respect that about Steph.
And aside from his threes from half court, I mean, what else can you say about him? Well, he did, masha'allah, he did amazing work for Liat Yusuf Rozan, our three winners. Made a lot of mercy on them when they, the murder, the martyrs from North Carolina, masha'allah, on doing that. Liat for Curry was very special, masha'allah. Or Curry for, he was just, he was an incredible ambassador for that. So I can respect that. But you're excited about Zion, right? Pelicans, Zion. Yeah, he's all right. He's all right. We'll see, insha'allah. Jazakum Allah khairan. Thank you for taking the time out to do this. And thank you for being the inspiration that you are. For everybody else, insha'allah, Confident Muslim is the, is a platform where we try to showcase people that have really conquered struggles and show that faith not only isn't a hindrance, it can actually be a source of great growth, alhamdulillah. And so this is a program that has been going on and each and every single time has been deeply inspirational because it's, there is vulnerability. And I think that the main thing, you know, we just came from a yaqeen session on trauma. We did a, we're doing a series on trauma and faith. Is that it's, every one of us is going to go through these different types of struggles. And those struggles are going to be very unique. But at the end of the day, if you end up in sujood, if you end up in that place of prostration with your, with the blood rushing to your head and your soul ascending, that it's going to be to your benefit and to your favor. So I pray that Allah accepts it from you. I pray that Allah allows all of us to have confident Muslims, to have confident Muslims in our families and amongst ourselves and ourselves to be that manifestation of confidence. I want to thank Isna for giving us the platform here. And I want to encourage you all insha'allah ta'ala to go to yaqeeninstitute.org, download the app insha'allah ta'ala. We have curriculum on how to instill confident Muslims. So you got to instill the curriculum at your Islamic school insha'allah, for your halaqas, for your high schools and different parts insha'allah.
So you can go to yaqeeninstitute.org. Jazakum Allah khayran. Jazakum Allah khayran. And this, sorry. Sorry, I didn't mean to break up the applause. There is one thing I would like to say. So the video that you all saw is actually a trailer to a full length documentary called Life Without Basketball. Alhamdulillah it was just picked up by kind of big time media distributor. And it'll be on pre-order October 6 insha'allah on iTunes and Amazon. So they need about 200 people to pre-order it so that maybe a Netflix or a Hulu or something like that could pick it up and that would be, that would be beautiful. Life Without Basketball in October insha'allah. We'll make sure to order 200 copies insha'allah. Jazakum Allah khayran everyone. Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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