Fatwa Football, This never stops being funny Options

[jonerik]

I've posted this here before, but it's been a while. From a Saudi newspaper in August 2005. It was written by a wahabi imam. And it's apparently not a satire:

In the name of God the merciful and benevolent:

1. Don't play soccer with four lines surrounding the field, since this is the way of the non-believers, and the international soccer rules require drawing these lines before playing.

2. One should not use the terminology established by the non-believers and the polytheists, like: 'foul,' 'penalty kick,' 'corner kick,' 'goal,' and 'out of bounds.' Whoever pronounces these terms should be punished, reprimanded, kicked out of the game, and should even be told in public: 'You have come to resemble the non-believers and the polytheists, and this has been forbidden.'

3. If one of you falls during the game and breaks his hand or his foot, or if the ball hits his hand, he shall not say 'foul' and shall not stop playing because of his injury. The one who caused his injury shall not receive a yellow or a red card, but rather the case shall be judged according to Muslim law in the case of a broken bone or an injury. The injured player shall exercise his rights according to the shari'a, as is stated in the Koran, and you must testify together with him that so-and-so tripped him up intentionally.

4. Do not set the number of players according to the number of players used by the non-believers, the Jews, the Christians, and especially the vile America. In other words, 11 players shall not play together. Make it a larger or a smaller number.

5. Play in your normal clothing, or in pajamas, or something like that, but not in colorful pants and numbered jerseys. Pants and jerseys are not appropriate clothing for Muslims. They are the clothing of the non-believers and of the West, and therefore you must be careful not to wear them.

6. Once you have fulfilled these conditions and rules, you must play the entire game with the intention of improving your physical fitness for the purpose of fighting Jihad for Allah's sake and preparing for the time when jihad is needed. One should not waste time in celebrating a false victory.

7. Do not play for 45 minutes, as is the practice among the Jews, the Christians, and in all of the countries of non-belief and atheism. This is also the length of time that is accepted in the soccer clubs of those who have strayed from the righteous path. You must be different than the non-believers, depart from their path, and not imitate them in anything.

8. Do not play in two parts i.e. halves, but rather in one part or in three parts, so as to be different than the sinful and rebellious, the non-believers and the polytheists.

9. If neither side has defeated the other and neither side has inserted the ball between the posts, do not waste further time in an extension or in 'penalty kicks' until someone has won, but rather leave the field immediately, since this kind of victory is precisely an imitation of the non-believers and adoption of the international soccer rules.

10. Do not appoint someone who follows the players around and is called 'a referee', since, after canceling the international rules such as 'foul,' 'penalty kick,' 'corner kick' and so on, there is no need for his presence. Moreover, his presence is an imitation of non-believers, Jews and Christians, and constitutes adoption of the international soccer rules.

11. In the course of the game it is forbidden for groups of youth to gather and watch, since if you are gathering for the sake of sports activity and physical fitness, as you claim, why should they be looking at you? You must make them participate in order to improve their physical fitness and prepare for jihad; or else say to them, 'Go propagate Islam and seek out moral corruption in the marketplaces and in the press in order to correct it, and leave us to improve our physical fitness.'

12. When you finish playing, be careful not to talk about the game, and not to say 'we play better than the opponent,' or 'so-and-so is a good player,' etc. Moreover, you should speak about your body, its strength and its muscles, and about the fact that you are playing as a means of training to run, attack, and retreat in preparation for waging jihad for Allah's sake.

13. If one of you inserts the ball between the posts and then starts to run so that his companions will run after him and hug him, like the players in America and France do, you should spit in his face, punish him, and reprimand him, for what do joy, hugging, and kissing have to do with sports?

14. You must take the three posts or iron rods which you use to construct the goal, and into which the ball is kicked, and replace them with just two instead of three. In other words, take out the cross-post or rods so that the goal will not be similar to what is customary among the non-believers, and in order to violate the despotic international soccer rules.

15. Do not do what is known as 'substitution', that is, putting in a player in place of a player who has been disqualified since this the custom of the non-believers in America and elsewhere.

[dillirgaff]

when I was a kid, we played wiffle ball by our own rules, will that put me on some sort of watch list?

[Big Tony]

They're just going out of their way to be contrary. It's kind of cute in its own way.

[jonerik]

when I was a kid, we played wiffle ball by our own rules, will that put me on some sort of watch list?

It already has.

[tarawhite]

In the fatwa fantasy football game, each jihadist gets 20 virgins per goal.

[Dan from providence]

remarkably similar to Calvinball. They forgot 23rd base.

[teenbillybaby]

Incredibly weird. Is this the same culture whose favorite tv show is Baywatch?? I heard it was huge in the Arab world.

[plastic_wrapped]

You think that's bad, try reading the decrees of what's pak and halal (religious concepts of clean and dirty) about the bathroom. These guys argue about how many times you're supposed to shake your peg so as not to displease the almighty.

I am glad that someone is finally speaking out against the despotism of the International Soccer Association, though.

[terrydactyl]

They're just going out of their way to be contrary. It's kind of cute in its own way.

and john wacy gacy was a funny clown

[mach313]

These guys argue about how many times you're supposed to shake your peg so as not to displease the almighty.

These people must think god has plenty of time to check:
Their eating habits,fashion sense,facial hair length and so much more.
Doen't god have enough to do?