Amir Malik is on a drive to make golf extra inclusive for Muslims

Muricas News  — 

Amir Malik is a person in love with golf. But golf has not at all times beloved him again.

A loyal sports activities fan since his childhood in Kingston upon Thames, London, he was fascinated with golf lengthy earlier than he took his first swing. However figuring out no one else who performed, Malik settled for a sideline view.

That each one modified in 2012, when his former boss invited him to strive his hand at a driving vary.

“From the primary ball I assumed, ‘That is it. This recreation is unbelievable,’” Malik, now aged 38, informed Muricas News.

“I’ve performed a number of sports activities, however there aren’t too many whenever you go to mattress desirous about it and you may’t wait to stand up to return and play once more.”

Finally, Malik was able to take his recreation to the subsequent degree. Becoming a member of a municipal membership in 2017, he started competing in Sunday morning tournaments.

It was at these occasions that the “ugly aspect” of the sport was swiftly revealed to Malik, who felt remoted by the jarring conflict of membership tradition and his Muslim religion.

The discomfort would start earlier than a ball was struck, as Malik says he drew questioning seems at his refusal to partake in wagers over in-house competitions, as playing is forbidden in Islam. Out on the course, stepping apart to watch salat – ritual Islamic prayers carried out 5 instances a day – additional heightened his anxieties.

“You'd really feel scared, intimidated. How are individuals going to react?” he recalled.

“We at all times made positive we have been out of the way in which, however you have been made to really feel very, very uncomfortable.”

His unease was exacerbated by the commonplace custom of clubhouse ingesting after competitions. As Malik doesn’t drink alcohol, he was left at hand in his scorecard and make an early exit.

As he improved and performed extra prestigious programs, discomfort usually escalated into outright hostility. Malik, who's of Pakistani descent, stated he has skilled racism on the golf course.

“You flip up and instantly you possibly can really feel the vibe and the environment, the way in which you’re spoken to, the way in which you’re handled,” he stated.

“And also you’re identical to ‘Wow, simply because I’ve obtained a beard, I’m brown, and I don’t seem like you, you most likely assume I can’t play otherwise you don’t assume I do know the etiquette.

“It used to actually frustrate me since you sense it, you're feeling it, you develop up in it, you understand what it appears like. And it’s not till you hit one straight down the center of the golf green – whenever you’ve smoked a drive – that individuals then assume, ‘Oh, he can play,’ and it’s too late by then.”

Malik’s ardour for golf was not soured by his experiences. Quite the opposite, they spurred him to scout out different British Muslims who shared his love of the sport.

Inspired by “pockets” of curiosity he had seen on his travels, in December 2019 Malik put a reputation to his new enterprise – the Muslim Golf Affiliation (MGA) – and despatched out invites to a charity golf day at The Grove, a prestigious venue simply exterior London.

The MGA’s maiden occasion could be open to all religions; prayer services could be offered and there could be no alcohol or playing. Malik was shocked by the response. Inside 24 hours, all 72 locations had been booked, with over 100 individuals on the ready record by the week’s finish.

The occasion, held in August 2020, raised £18,000 for charity, and the sight of over 60 gamers praying collectively within the Grove’s courtyard marked a watershed second for Malik.

“That for me was simply superb,” he stated. “That we might get guys collectively, feeling protected and cozy and simply be on our personal platform.”

Since then, the MGA has partnered with the Marriott resort chain to stage a tri-series match starting in 2021, with the winners of this 12 months’s version securing an all-expenses paid journey to the Turkish golfing paradise of Belek.

“I checked out golf and thought, it’s a sport performed by White, previous, wealthy males, interval,” Malik stated. “We’ve now obtained a chance to really present the world that non-Whites can play this recreation and we’re fairly rattling good at it.”

The overwhelming response to MGA occasions amongst Muslim girls has been equally thrilling for Malik. After launching a trio of pilot classes in Birmingham final 12 months, 1,000 gamers have already signed as much as the string of women-only taster occasions scheduled throughout the nation over the subsequent two months.

Malik believes Muslim girls within the UK are being held again from collaborating in additional sports activities due to an absence of all-female services and classes.

The MGA has no gown code, which suggests girls can play in a niqab (face veil) and an abaya (lengthy gown) if they need, and it hires sections of programs for its unique use for taster occasions, to make sure a cushty expertise for brand spanking new gamers.

“The response has been completely unbelievable, mindblowing,” Malik stated. “I say to girls, ‘I don’t care what you put on, what you seem like, simply include a smile and with a pair of trainers and we’ll deal with the whole lot else.’ We’ve not executed something revolutionary, we’ve simply made it accessible, and the demand is unbelievable.”

Up to now, MGA occasions have attracted over 1,300 contributors. Wanting ahead, the group goals to take its efforts world to achieve as many new gamers as attainable.

Rising up, Malik needed to look to different sports activities for Muslim position fashions, corresponding to England cricketer Moeen Ali. From Muhammad Ali, to Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, to Mohamed Salah, numerous Muslim athletes have carved out glittering careers throughout a spread of sports activities, but skilled golf provides a comparative shortage of examples.

In keeping with a survey cited by England Golf, the nation’s governing physique for newbie golf, simply 5% of golfers in England are from ethnically numerous teams.

By working alongside teams such because the MGA, England Golf’s chief working officer Richard Flint believes the obstacles which have contributed to an absence of range within the recreation may be understood and damaged down.

“No-one ought to really feel uncomfortable strolling by the doorways of a golf membership or facility merely due to their age, race, ethnicity or gender,” Flint informed Muricas News.

“As a contemporary, forward-thinking group, we wish golf to be open to everybody and alter unfavourable perceptions across the recreation that belong prior to now.”

Whereas Malik hopes to quickly see Muslim gamers competing on skilled excursions, he says he didn't type the MGA to provide a Muslim Tiger Woods.

“If that occurs as a byproduct, then nice,” he stated. “But when we are able to get the golf business to take a protracted, onerous have a look at itself and make itself accessible, make itself open and numerous, then that’s an enormous achievement.

“The golf course doesn’t discriminate. The ball doesn’t ask what coloration, race or gender you're … but it’s been a really closed membership that’s been open to only a few individuals.

Malik believes it’s time for change. “Golf has a number of distinctive values and traditions, which I nonetheless assume it must preserve agency, however it has to evolve … if it have been to open itself up and let different cultures and traditions carry all that nice stuff to this recreation, it may very well be completely fantastic.”