Bonding Community
Meeting every week, Muslims praised the league idea for giving members of the community another outlet to get together at the end of a busy work week.
“Softball is a great sport to play. It’s easy on your body,” said Hashim Ghazi, who plays on the Ottomans.
“When you are not up to bat, you sit around and watch. It’s a much slower sport and you can interact with each other. It’s great for community building,” the 29-year-old Mississauga resident, a lawyer by profession, added.
Work on the league idea started last year, with the first match starting last May.
Players signed up as individuals and were then drafted by team captains to ensure more or less even skill levels on each team, and so participants could meet people they didn’t know before.
“This is very unique due to the Muslim aspect of it, but sport is just a great way to bring people out,” said Ghazi, who came up with the idea to name the teams after Islamic dynasties to honor their history and heritage.
“We always have friendly rivalries and we go after each other. But we do take our games very seriously,” added Ghazi, who plays for Project Ramadan, which delivers food baskets to people in need regardless of religious background.
Muslims make around 2.8 percent of Canada's 32.8 million population, and Islam is the number one non-Christian faith in the country.
A recent survey showed that the overwhelming majority of Muslims are proud to be Canadian, and that they are more educated than the general population.
