Pakistani ace Mohammad Yousuf has credited his conversion to Islam for his lustrous performance in 2006. Mohammad Yousuf, who was known as Yousuf Youhana before his conversion, was only the fourth Christian after Antao D’Souza, Wallis Mathias and Duncan Sharpe to feature for Pakistan in cricket. In 2004, Mohammad Yousuf became the first non-Muslim player to captain Pakistan.
Mohammad Yousuf’s success after converting to Islam
Yousuf, however, decided to convert to Islam in 2005 and also changed his name. His wife Tania adopted Islam as well and changed her name to Fatima. Mohammad Yousuf experienced a string of influential performance after his conversion to Islam which started with a 199-ball 173-run knock against India.
It was followed by a brilliant run in Pakistan’s tour of England in 2006. Yousuf boasted an average of 99.33 and scored a total of 1,788 runs in 2006. He broke the record of Viv Richards of most Test centuries in a calendar year. He also matched the record of Australian legend Donald Bradman by minting six centuries in consecutive Tests.
Mohammad Yousuf credited his conversion for his success
“I did nothing different when it came to training or practice in 2006. Towards the end of 2005, I had converted to Islam and had read Islamic prayers for the first time. I then grew a beard and I felt at peace with myself, very calm and mentally ready for any challenge that came my way. I’ve always felt that my brilliant performance in 2006 was a reward from The Almighty after my conversion to Islam. I had never even dreamt that I would break Sir Vivian Richards’ record that year, but because I was at peace with myself and my surroundings, mentally I was at the top of my game and I felt that nothing could stop me or come into my way,” said Mohammad Yousuf.
What motivated Yousuf to adopt Islam?
“I wasn’t forced to convert to Islam as some have alleged and tried to suggest. The reality is that I was very close to Saeed Anwar. We were great friends on and off the field and had played a lot of cricket together in our teenage years. I spent so much time with Saeed that his parents regarded me as their own son. When I was at their house, I could see the sort of peaceful and disciplined life his parents led and that really intrigued me,” Mohammad Yousuf was quoted as saying by PakPassion.net.
“I had observed Saeed Anwar’s life before he became religious and how that changed when Saeed had the personal tragedy of the death of his daughter. Saeed turning to religion was an inspiration and the turning point for me that lead to my conversion to Islam,” said Yousuf.
