صراط عشق صراط عشق
To see Moroccan players paying homage to Allah before applying Allah’s teaching to pay homage to their mothers – who were wearing Hijab! At the game! On global television! – was not only beautiful, moving and uplifting, but important, crystallising the crux of international competition: to learn about different cultures; to share love by celebrating difference; to make the world a better place.
Morocco is a Muslim country, and before the last-16 penalty shootout against Spain, the players recited Surah Al-Fatiha, the first chapter of the Qur’an. Then, after securing passage to the quarter-final and also after winning it, the squad ran to their fans and prostrated themselves in prayer – in the process, declaring to the planet not only their pride in being Moroccan but their pride in Islam, inspiring ecstatic celebrations throughout the Muslim world.
