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Ismaili Muslims strut stuff at tournament
By Shelley Mann
[email protected]
Staff Photo: Anthony Stalcup
Mind, Body and Soul, a national
sports tournament, has drawn Muslims from around the
county for the two-day event taking place Saturday and
today at Briscoe Park in Snellville. Events include flag
football, cricket, tennis, softball and running.
SNELLVILLE — Parkview junior Nida Lakhani hasn’t played much sports, and she was reluctant to join a flag football team for her Muslim community’s sports tournament this weekend.
But you wouldn’t have guessed it from watching her at the Shia Imami Ismaili community’s National Sports Tournament on Saturday. The 16-year-old said she was having a blast, and that’s despite her team’s loss to a team of girls from Dallas, one teammate’s broken pinkie and another’s sprained ankle. In fact, Nida said the experience has persuaded her to continue playing.
“The best part is playing and getting to know other people,” she said. “It builds self-confidence.” Getting young Ismaili Muslims such as Nida interested in sports is one of the goals of the two-day tournament, organizers said. About 1,000 Ismailis from across the country gathered at
Briscoe Park for the tournament, styled after the summer Olympics.
Teams competed in regional soccer, cricket, flag football, tennis, softball and track and field tournaments to qualify to play at the national event.
But organizers also hope holding the national competition in Gwinnett, home to a rapidly growing Ismaili community, will help county residents understand that most Muslims are nothing like the media makes them out to be, said Dr. Abdul Ahmed, a doctor at Emory Eastside Medical Center and president of the Ismaili Council for the Southeast.
Ismaili Muslims belong to the Shia branch of Islam. Their culture values education, equal rights for women, community service and ethics, Ahmed said. Ismailis tend to oppose violence and believe dialogue is the best way to resolve conflict. “Contrary to what people perceive Islam to be on TV, Ismailis are about peace, generosity, kindness, forgiveness and respect for life, with service to the community at large,” Ahmed said.
The young Ismailis at Briscoe Park on Saturday certainly didn’t look any different from the average sports crowd. They donned soccer jerseys and shorts, while the spectators wore jeans and T-shirts. They chatted on cell phones and drank cup after cup of Gatorade. “Here’s a community that’s no different from the rest of the community. We’re working in the
hospitals, the libraries, the schools. We want to be contributing members of society,” he said.
Ismaili Muslims live in more than two dozen countries, mostly in South Asia, East Africa and the Middle East. But Ismaili students from Pakistan and India came to the United States during the 1960s and ’70s to study at colleges and universities here, and today there are large Ismaili communities in Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles and other cities. Gwinnett’s strong public school system is one reason Muslims have been flocking to the area, said Imran Meghji, a tournament ambassador.
During the next several months, construction will begin on a new Ismaili community center in Snellville. It will be the first of its kind in Gwinnett and will give local Muslims a place to gather, worship and learn, Ahmed said.