The following excerpts are from a speech delivered by Egyptian cleric Mus’id Anwar, which aired on Al-Rahma TV on June 6, 2010.

Mus’id Anwar: I’m sad to say that some Muslim youth memorize the results of soccer matches more than they memorize the Koran. I swear by God that this is true. Some Muslim youth memorize the dates and the results of the matches, and the points gained by the different teams more than they memorize the verses of the Koran.

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Some of them know more about the soccer players than they know about the companions of the Prophet Muhammad. Ask one of those young men who are so crazy about soccer to name the names of twenty of the Prophet’s companions. Only 20! The Prophet Muhammad’s companions numbered over 100,000. All I’m asking for is the name of 20 companions – 10 men and 10 women. Come on.

You’ll see him lower his gaze, twist his lower lip, and say: I don’t know. Others will manage to name the names of the four righteous caliphs only. But if you ask the same guy to give you the names of 20 soccer players, he will ask you: Arabs or foreigners? From Europe or Latin America? He will give you the names of the reserve team players, of those who are still active, and those who have retired.

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I am sad to say – and my mouth fills with bitterness when I say this – the mosques have become affected by the broadcasting of soccer matches. If there’s a match at the time of the afternoon prayer, there are only two rows of worshippers in the mosque, but when there’s no match, the mosque is packed. If the match coincides with the evening prayer – you can forget about the prayer. People combine the evening and night prayers, saying: “We want to watch the match. It’s the finals, man. It is the match of all matches, the crucial and decisive match.”

Are you at war, or what?! What is so crucial and decisive about it? What is this, oh nation of Islam?

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Islam prohibits sports that are harmful, that cause damage to oneself or to others. There are sports that are harmful. Take free wrestling, for instance. The wrestler wears shorts. He’s completely naked. He wears a swimsuit. Completely naked, exposing his private parts. Then he starts to pound on the other guy. He lifts him up in the air and slams him to the ground. He climbs the ropes and jumps onto the guy’s chest. Some of them even die. What kind of a sport is this?

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Another kind of harmful sport, which is also prohibited, is bullfighting. It involves the pointless killing of a soul created by Allah.

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The matador fights the bull in a stadium with 20,000 spectators. He holds a red cloth, and keeps waving it like this. The bull charges, and he stabs it with a saber, a dagger, and a sword, until the bull dies, and all he people applaud. Is this permitted by Islam? What about prevention of cruelty to animals, Europe? They say that Muslims do not have any compassion – where is your compassion for animals when it comes to bullfighting, or to cock fights? Where is the compassion you keep talking about? Where is your compassion when it comes to electrocuting animals? Where is your compassion? We invented compassion for animals.

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What do you have to say about women swimming? The national swimming champion stands there in her swimsuit! You’re naked, girl. Someone is making fun of you. They give you a bronze medal, or a wooden medal, and you stand there naked, and all the people devour your flesh? May Allah curse the bronze medal, the wooden medal, or the gold medal, if they make you expose your flesh. It’s forbidden, girl.

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Take women’s tennis. The female players must wear skirts a hand-span long, miles and miles above the knee. A mini-skirt. And then she plays tennis, and all her private parts are exposed. If the ball falls, she bends down to pick it up, and everybody applauds. What is this joke? What is this buffoonery? It is forbidden. Why? Because the private parts are exposed.

If you watch gymnastics competitions, you will see that they are wearing clothes that look as if they are wearing nothing. Then she starts jumping. Her breasts are naked, her thighs are naked, and her clothes stick to her flesh.

Take women’s soccer, for example. Women leave no stone unturned. Women’s soccer. Sania passes to Atiyya, who passes to Shatuta, and Shatuta does a “double kick” and scores a goal! What a joke! We place our trust in Allah. Take an example from the Palestinian women, girl.

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There are all kinds of sports with customs that run counter to Islamic law – like bowing to your rival in karate or Kung Fu. They salute one another by bowing. We bow to nobody but our Lord.

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As you know, the Jews, or the Zionists, have The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Over 100 years ago, they formulated a plan to rule the world, and they are implementing this plan. One of the protocols says: “Keep the [non-Jews] preoccupied with songs, soccer, and movies.” Is it or isn’t it happening? It is.

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The Zionists manage to generate animosity among Muslims, and even between Muslim countries, by means of soccer. A few years ago, Morocco expelled the Qatari ambassador in protest, because Qatar did not vote in favor of holding the World Cup games in Morocco. Take the matches between Egypt and Algeria. Anybody who followed the sports news felt as if a war was about to break out between Egypt and Algeria. What’s all the fuss about? What has happened to the Muslims? Whose interests does this serve? The Jews. They had tremendous success, to the point that soccer has become a religion.

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Don’t some of them die in the course of a soccer match? At a match in England, 90 spectators died, and at a match in Italy, 40 people were killed. At an important match in Egypt, a man was standing in the stadium, and when his team scored a goal, he screamed “Gooooaaal!” got a heart attack, and died.