Badr Hari: Wasted Oppurtunities for Da'wah.
Al Salamu ‘Alaykum.
Some of you may have heard of Badr Hari (pronounced Haari with a soft ‘h’). He is also known as the “Golden Boy” of the K1 (professional kickboxing) circuit. He is a Muslim super heavyweight kick boxer and very popular among kick boxing fans. Unfortunately, this Moroccan-Dutch Muslim is not as popular with the Police in the Netherlands.
Since 2006, Hari has been arrested repeatedly on charges of assault outside the ring. In the ring, he has been guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct against his opponents twice. After being disqualified a second time, Hari took off a year from the sport and returned to it on 15th May 2011, easily defeating the French boxer, Gregory Tony by a technical knockout.
The following article is about his arrest in 2010:
“Former world champion kickboxer Badr Hari is being held in custody after being arrested on Wednesday for assaulting a doorman in Amsterdam.
The incident took place last February, when the kickboxer was refused entry to a nightclub because his clothing was not in line with the dress code. The doorman suffered a broken nose and eye socket.
A police investigation led to Dutch Moroccan Badr Hari. However as Mr Hari was in Morocco, the police were unable to trace him. They had been looking for him since June.
Hari is considered one of the world's best kickboxers and is famous in countries like Japan. Nevertheless he has been disqualified twice during important boxing galas for kicking his opponent while he was on the floor. After his second disqualification he announced he would be retiring from the sport temporarily.”
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
This is a great tragedy for the Ummah. People like Badr are adored by literally hundreds of thousands of Muslim and non Muslim fans across the world. They are followed, commented upon, their relics are collected, their words are remembered and their actions emulated. If Badr were to put on his best behaviour then he could be an ambassador of Islam to these hungry millions. Instead of this, he has chosen the way of a brutish lout and confirmed for many of his fans their unsaid criticisms of Islam.
May Allah guide him to the Sunna of the Prophet (Sall Allahu ‘Alayhi Wasallam) and make him a da’i par excellence.
Wa salamu ‘alaykum.