Muhammad Ali kaley was a world champion in boxing when he accepted islam. There are countless well known people who accepted islam and never cared for what the world will say. Some of them were criticized and even killed as we have seen happened with michale Jackson who converted to islam shortly before he died. There are on average 20,000 people alone in America who convert to islam every year and they include people from all races.
In this article we will talk about second cricketer in the history of cricket who accepted islam and declared his choice of faith. Wayne parnell, a 22 years old south African fast bowler came into the special attention of media when he declared that he has converted to islam from christainity. What made him impressed about islam, is not yet known in detail but he and his team mates were particularly impressed by Hashim amla, second muslim player in south Africa’s cricket team.
He rejected all those false propaganda about him which said that he was compelled in any way by hashim amla to accept islam. He said that it was his own choice and his team mates confirmed that he was very serious about the faith he chose to associate with. Wayne parnell was the team captain of the 2008 under 19 world cup and he was the youngest cricket player who made contract with south African cricket board at the age of 20.
His team mates said that he converted to islam in januray 2011 and since then he did not even touched liquor in any cricket tour. They have seen a great change in him and he strictly follows islam now.
Wayne parnell has not yet decided a name for him , but he likes to call himself waleed. Wayne parnell, before his conversion to islam had involved in some issues and remained in the critical analysis of media over few mistakes he made.
Now that he has accepted islam, we welcome him to the religion of peace and humanity and his choice of being a muslim also has made many people think about their hatred towards islam. This shows that despite of all the money and fame he had with his career as a cricketer, he did not care to find a better way for him. The money , face and riches does not play any role in anyone’s life if the conscience of the person is alive. Wayne parnell is yet another living example of those who found peace of their life in this short life. May ALLAH help him and keep him on the right path and make din-e islam easy for him to follow. amin