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muslim footballers in the premier league

August 26, 2009
by

wdkfriberyanelkapraying

As it is Ramadhan – the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and the month of fasting, lets take a gander at the Muslim footballers playing in the Premier League.

Emmanuel Eboue

Samir Nasri

Robin van Persie

El Hadji Diouf

Nicolas Anelka

Salomon Kalou

Marouane Fellaini

Leon Osman

Emmanuel Adebayor

Kolo Toure

Other notables Muslim players elsewhere:

Freddy Kanoute

Franck Ribery

Yaya Toure

Zinedine Zidane

Can only confirm these players for you, not all are practising Muslims.

Ribery, van Persie and Anelka are converts.

Anyone else know any Muslim players?

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112 Comments leave one →
  1. August 26, 2009 7:48 pm

    Ali Al Habsi- Bolton Goalkeeper.

    Premier League World did a segment on him last year- I remember vaguely…. but part of the footage was Ali doing his daily prayers so I assume he’s practicing.

    • April 7, 2010 8:40 pm

      LUIS NANI

    • April 7, 2010 8:41 pm

      Eboue

      Samir Nasri

      Robin van Persie

      El Hadji Diouf

      Nicolas Anelka

      Salomon Kalou

      Marouane Fellaini

      Leon Osman

      Emmanuel Adebayor

      Kolo Toure

      Other notables Muslim players elsewhere:

      Freddy Kanoute

      Franck Ribery

      Yaya Toure

      Zinedine Zidane
      luis nani

      • laia permalink
        April 18, 2010 9:32 am

        abue isnot real muslim his

    • April 7, 2010 8:42 pm

      Eboue

      Samir Nasri

      Robin van Persie

      El Hadji Diouf

      Nicolas Anelka

      Salomon Kalou

      Marouane Fellaini

      Leon Osman

      Emmanuel Adebayor

      LUIS NANI

      • April 24, 2011 10:12 pm

        i like musulims players, I like the players who fight for the Muslims my name is nurudeen iam player in ghana niger continue to figth again

  2. George permalink
    August 26, 2009 8:01 pm

    Mido? Who’s he playing for these days?

    • August 27, 2009 9:31 am

      apparently hes back in egypt on a loan deal, after refusing to come back to boro.

      amr zaki is another one.

  3. August 26, 2009 8:30 pm

    Thierry Henry I believe. Someone told me whoever he gets in contact with converts. ie Half of Arsenal.

  4. August 26, 2009 8:56 pm

    Ok, my knowledge of Islam is so great I just had to wikipedia to find out if alcohol is forbidden. It is.

    Soooo just wondering what’s in Francky’s little glass here http://www2.2space.net/images/upl_newsImage/1191159780.jpg
    Perhaps Alkoholfreie Deutsche Bier

    • August 26, 2009 9:18 pm

      Perhaps, its lighter in color. FC Bayern did a photoshoot today for a bier company and most of them had a bier in hand except for Franck.

      • August 26, 2009 9:26 pm

        check these pictures out, ribery getting his hajj on and oktoberfest.

      • August 26, 2009 9:33 pm

        lol check out the look on Luca Toni’s face!

      • August 27, 2009 7:39 pm

        Hajj looks kinda like a toga party.

      • krol permalink
        November 6, 2009 6:53 pm

        paluiii ko katie

      • Masood_Trinidad&Tobago permalink
        November 10, 2009 6:39 am

        Please TRY, try to be respectful… It’s one of the most sacred events in our religion… There are certain reasons for dressing like that, do your research…

    • FC Bayern permalink
      May 24, 2012 12:32 pm

      ribery opened up a Alcohol-free Bar in his home town for muslims. so i dont think he actually drinks. nevertheless he is a muslim.

      • August 19, 2012 10:44 pm

        Its gud 2 fear Allah when ur comentng smthng my felow muslim always be truthful.

    • October 21, 2012 7:30 pm

      Funny how people think Eboue is a muslim. i watched him play for Ivory coast and arsenal countless times to know he isnt. simply coz he likes doing the Cross and sometimes wore Jesus T-shirts.

  5. August 27, 2009 8:22 am

    Karim Benzema
    Mohammadou diara
    Lassana Diara
    Siedou Kieta
    Yaya toure
    Eric abidal

    • August 27, 2009 8:35 am

      Oops didnt read Premier leagur :P

  6. August 27, 2009 10:24 am

    Sanli Tuncay (Middlesbrough)
    Armand Traore (Arsenal-Pompey)
    Nabil El Zahr (Liverpool)
    Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan)
    Ben Arfa (Marseille)
    Khalid Boulahrouz (Stuttgart)

  7. Petar permalink
    August 27, 2009 2:10 pm

    Haha how could you mistake Eboue and Adebayor for muslims, I mean they are probably the biggest and most open Christians in the league :)
    Anyways only speaking from what I’ve read I think Van Persie isn’t really practicing seeing he converted for his wife but on the other hand I think Nasri is.

    • August 27, 2009 3:02 pm

      the internet told me they were muslims lol. plus, i remember an article about him praying and the picture was similar to the one in this post. anyway, should have known with a name like emmanuel.

      and yes, van persie is a non-practising muslim convert.

  8. mehdi666 permalink
    August 27, 2009 7:20 pm

    suley muntari of inter milan
    rubinho the goalkeeper of palermo
    fred the ex-striker of olympique lyon
    momo sissoko of juventus
    altintop of bayern munchen(you can see him in the hajj picture with ribery)

  9. Kosovo permalink
    October 7, 2009 9:45 pm

    Lorik Cana in Sunderlan is too muslim
    Fredie Kanoute -sevilla

    • October 8, 2009 12:12 am

      Lorik Cana? Nice! He’s incredibly handsome.

      • bekim permalink
        April 7, 2010 5:56 pm

        lorik cana is muslims ok

      • bekim permalink
        April 7, 2010 5:57 pm

        lorik cana is muslims ok po po musliman osht

      • hellboy permalink
        January 5, 2013 3:37 pm

        fuck u katiee u assholes christians just piss offf bitch

  10. Ali BOI permalink
    October 9, 2009 8:31 pm

    @katie

    u shld be ashamed of urself calling such a Holy and sacred event a party… get real girl!!!

    • October 10, 2009 5:23 pm

      If you take issue with the fact that to my eye, that photo LOOKS similar to one you’d see of a toga party, that’s your problem. I’m definitely not – nor ever will be – ashamed of saying that. That Hajj photo also LOOKS like depictions of the Roman forum.

      Whereas we try to not be offensive to reasonable people here at WDKF, a caveat to the hyper-sensitive: this site may not be for you….It is a hybrid of football and humor.

      • hamad permalink
        July 7, 2010 6:03 pm

        try to be respectful to someones religion.SHAME ON YOU

      • August 3, 2011 4:13 pm

        My Muslim peeps. Katie here didn’t mean to offend us or insult our religion. Calm down. You won’t get any rewards anyway for standing up to her. Katie, peace

  11. Ali BOI permalink
    October 9, 2009 8:32 pm

    u shld be ashamed of urself calling such a Holy and Sacred event a party… get real girl!!!

  12. Shane MacSuibhne permalink
    October 10, 2009 2:31 pm

    Zemmama up at Hibs in SPL too

  13. zullo permalink
    November 12, 2009 1:56 pm

    Karem Benzema?? is he a muslim??

  14. F.U.A permalink
    November 16, 2009 2:47 pm

    @Katie..as its aa Fotball and un forum as you say, my comment 2 you is : if thats a picture of you, it says all, you are as blond as dumb and probably the only interests you have are checking the players instead of the game and looking in the mirror.
    “Women” like you are more effective to make me throw up than using my finger…but hey, its all fun, isnt it!!?

    Back to Subject, i went thru the names and..i doubt that 5% of them could be called muslims cause a muslim is by action and not by name.
    Examble, Anelka Coverted in 2004 but i read an interview where he says he doesnt practice Ramadan cause he gets injured afterwards..what an excuse.

    • November 16, 2009 4:40 pm

      Totally. I’m such an “infidel.” :-/ Thanks so much for making me see the error of my ways.

      • Sal permalink
        May 22, 2010 12:38 am

        Katie your right it does look like some guys in a Toga party, it is what you associate with and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Some guys out there are just hung about how people think or how people visualise something. I’m sure you meant no harm. I am a muslim and your comment made me smile. Those in glass houses should not throw stones.

        ps Owen Hargreaves!!!!!! United! United!

  15. jama permalink
    December 20, 2009 4:03 pm

    arsenal player bacray sagna

  16. January 5, 2010 2:19 am

    Felippe melo, eric abidal, and samr handanovic are muslim players..

    Sergio on barcelona, I believe he’s a muslim

  17. lolinogilllllligfenogionolig permalink
    January 12, 2010 9:31 pm

    ok guys katie may have taken the picture in the wrong way but you do not need to keep going on about it anyone can make a mistake

  18. DenixBosnia permalink
    March 10, 2010 12:39 am

    Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg)
    Miralem Pjanic (Lyon)
    Vedad Ibisevic and Sejad Salihovic (Hoffenheim)
    Asmir Begovic ex. goalkeeper of Portsmouth now in Stoke City
    Emir Spahic Montpellier

    • DenixBosnia permalink
      March 10, 2010 12:43 am

      This is also Bosnian player on the national team game…

      Safet Nadarevic playing in Turkey

    • DenixBosnia permalink
      March 10, 2010 12:44 am

  19. GvdM permalink
    May 5, 2010 2:35 am

    van Persie is not. Here was his answer on dutch-football.com:

    “It’s not true. I am not a Muslim, nor a Christian or a Jew. I have been raised liberally. If you want to become a Muslim it should come from the heart. I would not do it just to please my wife.”
    Robin van Persie. he is Atheist

    • Bos permalink
      November 9, 2011 2:17 am

      Yeah, that’s not what he was saying when he wanted to marry the sheila. Bloody snakes. Some peope you can never trust.

      • Bos permalink
        November 9, 2011 2:23 am

        Hope Dzeko inshllah finishes above him this season

  20. May 20, 2010 3:01 pm

    Its great to see so many muslim players…but i do hope they really practising Islam as Way Of Life.
    I do really enjoy reading this blog…nice…

  21. dsad permalink
    June 21, 2010 9:40 pm

    @ kate before after he was converted

  22. gooner-wan permalink
    August 4, 2010 1:59 pm

    Ramadhan is coming up shortly, let’s see which one is practising Fasting. Thank you for this Blog.

  23. Jel permalink
    September 10, 2010 10:38 pm

    Guys just for the record, Van Persie is a practising Muslim and not coz he’s married to one. He converted when he was in his mid teens at High school.

    I remember listenin to an interview of Freddy Kanoute of Sevile, he was asked who the most practising footballer that he knew was and he said without doubt Van Persie.

    • ash permalink
      September 21, 2010 12:38 pm

      Hi can you give me a link to that interview Jel?

  24. October 9, 2010 9:47 am

    love to browse your site…always learn something new

    Regards,
    Caesar
    Toga Costumes

  25. MUSLIM permalink
    November 3, 2010 11:25 am

    The fact that they are saying they are muslim or not is irrelevent muslim can refer to inanimate objects for example the tree is muslim because it is serving Allah (God) by doing what its doing, we Muslims beleive all humans are muslims but then brought up not to be. To be a Practicing Muslim in the Islamic sense you must follow basic rules ie pay charity fast, go hajj ie we try to follow the example of Muhammed (pbuh) who was the best of muslims, take the declaration of faith, drinking etc is a sin but forgiveness is always encoouraged. Regarding Hajj being a toga party, heheh funny, but in actually this is a ritual that reminds us that we are one people, hence dressed the same and also reminds us of death, the single white sheet is representative of how a body is buried.

  26. Encik Amie permalink
    November 10, 2010 2:07 pm

    i wonder if owen hangreaves is muslim or not

  27. Encik Amie permalink
    November 10, 2010 2:07 pm

    owen hangreaves is muslim or not?

  28. by bilyaminu permalink
    November 14, 2010 11:57 pm

    is namanja vidic a muslim

  29. Mohammed haruna Bajaji permalink
    December 17, 2010 2:54 pm

    i dont think Adebayor, Eboue are true muslims but if the can converted to islam is good for them and the get the rigth way so far.

    Mohammed Haruna Bajaji
    Yola-Adamawa State Nigeria Africa

  30. December 20, 2010 6:10 pm

    Zlatan Ibrahimovic i think he is a muslim too

  31. April 24, 2011 10:15 pm

    anelka is best muslim

  32. Fawzi permalink
    July 16, 2011 4:45 am

    mesut ozil is also a muslim and he plays for real madrid

  33. Al-Ameen permalink
    August 24, 2011 1:16 am

    Well, There is nothing to be arguing about, but the the most interesting thing is only to know about the muslim footballers

  34. Al-Ameen permalink
    August 24, 2011 1:16 am

    Well, There is nothing to be arguing about, but the most interesting thing is only to know about the muslim footballers

  35. zakari saminaka permalink
    August 27, 2011 8:42 pm

    Is javier Hernandez of manchester united a muslim or a christian???

  36. Ibraheem b.k Aliyu permalink
    August 29, 2011 3:51 am

    I need more enlightment about those that would be listed bellow:Eboue,Adebayor,Solomon kalou,Vern persie,Thiery henry and lassana diarra.

  37. September 8, 2011 5:54 pm

    javier Hernandez is christian
    van persie is not muslim

  38. September 8, 2011 5:56 pm

    Marouane Fellaini and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov of Everton are muslims

  39. Dr mustapha permalink
    September 20, 2011 12:14 am

    Adebayo a Nigerian nationalised in Togo is not muslim but taye tawo,remon azeez,ahmed musa,abdul ajagun are all muslim

  40. Bos permalink
    November 9, 2011 2:19 am

    Dzeko and Begovic 2 Bosnian Muslims playing in the premier league

  41. Bos permalink
    November 9, 2011 2:20 am

    with Ibisevic and Medunjanin possibly joining them this jan.

  42. January 1, 2012 10:51 pm

    how did i know that messi is a muslim

  43. farhan permalink
    January 10, 2012 1:14 pm

    my farhan i am player my somali i liked muslim players like van persia and henry

  44. January 12, 2012 9:18 pm

    DEMBA BA is also a muslim player because he normally bows down when ever he scores and only muslims normally bow down

  45. Abdurazaq permalink
    January 13, 2012 11:58 am

    Ilike

  46. January 17, 2012 6:17 am

    el muhammadiy,moussa dembelle,younes kaboul,

  47. kabiru qualitu dass permalink
    January 30, 2012 11:06 pm

    How may i know how many players are muslim

  48. February 16, 2012 2:08 pm

    May allah help all d muslim players 2 play hardly

  49. Najiyyu Isma'il permalink
    February 23, 2012 9:43 pm

    I wish it all the best to the muslim players around the world perticularly in Bundes Liga.

  50. February 26, 2012 9:24 pm

    If van persie is a muslim i will love him much than before

  51. February 26, 2012 9:31 pm

    If it’s 100% confirm that van persie is a muslim i will love him much more.nd i will be happy if rosiky convert to islam

    • Donnie permalink
      June 18, 2012 6:21 pm

      Van Persie is agnostic / atheist. That means he does not believe whether there is possibility of God or any supernatural power exists.
      His wife is Moroccan. This is the main reason for rumours in Islamic world that he is Muslim.
      You may search in Google.

  52. Hamza permalink
    April 12, 2012 3:26 pm

    Edin Džeko – Man city. Muslim from Bosnia and Herzegovina :)

  53. kasim siraj permalink
    May 7, 2012 7:22 am

    pls who can tell me all Muslim footballers in the premier league

  54. kasim siraj permalink
    May 7, 2012 7:27 am

    I wish it all the best to the Muslim players around the world particularly in premier league,Bundes Liga.saria and lalega
    If van persie is a muslim i will love him much than before

  55. kasim siraj permalink
    May 7, 2012 8:06 am

    The fact that they are saying they are muslim or not is irrelevent muslim can refer to inanimate objects for example the tree is muslim because it is serving Allah (God) by doing what its doing, we Muslims beleive all humans are muslims but then brought up not to be. To be a Practicing Muslim in the Islamic sense you must follow basic rules ie pay charity
    fast, go hajj ie we try to follow the example of Muhammed (pbuh) who was the best of muslims, take the declaration of faith, drinking etc is a sin but forgiveness is always encoouraged. Regarding Hajj being a toga party, heheh funny, but in actually this is a ritual that reminds us that we are one people, hence dressed the same and also reminds us of death, the single white sheet is representative of how a body is buried.

    kasim siraj from ethiopia addis ababa

  56. May 30, 2012 5:32 am

    I dnt think solomon kalou z a muslim

  57. June 3, 2012 12:49 pm

    we have an other muslims players like :
    ricardo kaké
    seydou keita
    abidal
    lassana diara
    nuri sahin
    mesut ozil
    sami khedira
    bacary koné
    hamit altintiop
    enzo zidane
    fred
    sofane fegholi
    cadamuro bentaiba lyassine
    rais m’bolhi
    djamel mesbah
    yaya touré and kolo touré
    bakary sagna
    stephan elcharawy
    younes belhanda
    ibrahim afelay
    robin vanpersie
    salomon kalou
    john obi mikel
    mehdi abeid
    samir nasri
    karim benzema
    mohamed sisoko
    hadj diouf
    franck ribery
    merouane chemakh
    leon osman
    gregory medhi apusent LACEN
    mickaél febre
    isaac cuenca
    alexandre h’leb
    nicolas anelka
    patrice evra
    florent malouda
    adil rami
    m’hamed chakouri
    hassan yebde
    mike isamil bouzid
    soudani hilal
    zakaria sergi canalés
    and ZineDine ZiDane

    muslim coachs :
    laurent blac
    arsene venger
    vahid halillozic
    refsson khaled
    rabah madjer

  58. Fahmid Uddin permalink
    August 20, 2012 9:21 pm

    Adebayor is not a Muslim you bloody tools. he’s a Christian. And have you any source of Fellaini being one or are you just simply assuming it because of what his first name sounds like?

    • JimboJones permalink
      August 21, 2012 5:56 pm

      His father is called Abdellatif. I would say there is a high probability that he is Muslim.

  59. August 21, 2012 8:44 am

    We also have Ahmed Musa from Nigeria born in Kano State one of the eldest northern city in Nigeria and even in west Africa
    We still have Marouane Chamachk from Morocco
    Nurul Sahil From Turkey
    Yousuf El Arabi playing in Granada Spain

  60. AbdAllah permalink
    August 22, 2012 12:41 am

    this arguement is pointless focus on your own imaan and dont worry about other people muslim or not. we will all be judged on the day of judgement. may Allah guide you all to the straight path

  61. Abdi wali sheikh permalink
    September 10, 2012 8:42 pm

    I suport goodplayers sp muslm footballplayers

  62. Ron permalink
    November 8, 2012 4:23 pm

    Joey Barton was born a Muslim. And also titus bramble

  63. zaid permalink
    December 31, 2012 7:08 am

    mesut ozil, karim benzema, sami khedira….

  64. May 27, 2013 9:24 pm

    HARIS i wish all the football players were muslim

  65. June 16, 2013 11:59 am

    Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it.
    Look advanced to more added agreeable from you! By the way, how can we communicate?

  66. June 16, 2013 7:43 pm

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  67. July 9, 2013 3:21 am

    You could definitely see your expertise within the work you write.
    The world hopes for even more passionate writers such as
    you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go
    after your heart.

  68. July 28, 2013 5:23 pm

    I lovers googles & one day they well no me insha allah ramdan kareem

  69. muhammed permalink
    August 4, 2013 9:52 am

    i love muslim pleyers

  70. muhammed rooble permalink
    August 4, 2013 9:53 am

    i love muslim plaeyrs

  71. Ayak Maluk permalink
    September 8, 2013 12:48 am

    Robin Van Persie is not a muslim, his wife is.

  72. osaz permalink
    December 14, 2013 9:51 am

    i hate religion so fuck it and fuck y’all i can’t be a muslim demn!i ain’t bombing me 4 no allah

  73. osaz permalink
    December 14, 2013 9:54 am

    muslim do talk much but i see no christian or buddist doing this shit!so go get busy or go bomb something

  74. Abbas permalink
    December 23, 2013 4:52 am

    Iz van persie amuslim am confused

  75. teshome permalink
    June 30, 2014 3:11 am

    Ha ha ha ha ha , kaka? Is absolutely wrong

  76. July 15, 2014 10:28 pm

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  77. jamapower permalink
    September 11, 2014 5:50 am

    I am somali man and I like
    to see every game my Muslim
    brother players

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