Hakeem Olajuwon - Class of 2008 Hall of Famer
Published by Haseeb February 18th, 2008 in Basketball, SportsHakeem Olajuwon, one of the top 5 best centers of all time (and my personal favorite player of all time), is eligible for the NBA Hall of Fame this year. He is a sure lock to be a first-ballot hall of famer.
On April 11th, The Houston Rockets will unveil a monument honoring Hakeem Olajuwon outside the team’s new arena. Mashallah, Hakeem, who was deeply honored by this recognition, made sure that no image of his face be put on the monument to comply with Islamic law that prohibits the creation of idols. Source: ESPN (linked to me by MuJMaN)
Hakeem was truly one of the best players of all time, and the way he dominated other “superstars” in his prime like David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O Neal, and others, puts him in category of his own. His “dream shake” and nifty moves were uncanny for a 7 footer. Check out this video highlighting his career: (Warning: music contains foul language)
What’s neat about Hakeem is that he would still go to the masjid in Houston for regular salat. It wasn’t uncommon to see him stop in for dhur at the main center. Even better was that noone made a big deal. Just lined up for prayer and everyone was equally a Muslim. Hakeem has donated substantial funds to help establish two very nice masaajid here. May all of the so-called sports “greats” be blessed with the taufiq to serve the ummah as Brother Hakeem has.
I hope this will lead people to look at Muslims less as terrorists. Personally, I hope that by my promoting of Islamic art, I can give Muslims an artistic side. People with artistic sides are never terrorists.