Episode 23: Muslim Girls Hoop Too

See Something Say Something

Ahmed Ali Akbar

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 550 Ratings

🗓️ 4 May 2017

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2014, things were looking up for Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir. She held scoring records in Massachusetts for basketball and had a successful run in the NCAA which she hoped to turn into a professional career. Then, her dreams were put on hold when she realized that wearing the hijab is banned by FIBA, basketball's international governing body. Since then, she's been fighting to change the rule. This week, FIBA finally decided to overturn the ban and players can now wear hijab.

Earlier in the week, before the decision came down, Ahmed invited Bilqis and sports writer Shireen Ahmed to talk about FIBA, football, basketball, and encouraging Muslim girls to play sports. Then, sports superfan Rawan Eewshah joined the show to talk about Muslim sports icons and why Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may have actually been the GOAT.

Follow Bilqis on Instagram @qis_mo,
Follow Shireen @_shreenahmed_,
Follow Rawan @rawan,
Read about FIBA's rule and the decision to overturn it here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/aishagani/muslim-athletes-will-soon-be-able-to-wear-hijab-while?utm_term=.apm2w3YGJX#.vdJQ1yAO3K

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey guys, I'm Amadali Akbar, and this is See Something Say Something, the BuzzFeed
0:07.6	show where we drink tea, tell stories, and talk about being Muslim in America. This week,
0:12.2	we're going to be talking about something that I'm not super comfortable with, not something that I've
0:17.0	always been super great at, and that's sports. You know, it's something that I've always been super great at, and that's sports.
0:23.1	You know, it's something that I think Muslim Americans have been visible in American history and culture,
0:30.6	and also have participated in it.
0:34.6	If you see something, you better, you better say something.
0:43.3	Nothing at all, nothing at all.
0:47.4	So this week, the International Basketball Federation, or FIBA, is making a decision about whether or not players can wear religious
0:55.1	head coverings in official competitions.
0:57.5	They have a rule right now that basically bans hijab from international competition.
1:02.8	Today we're going to be talking to somebody who was affected by this rule directly in her career,
1:07.3	Bilkis Abdul Qadr.
1:15.1	Thank you. Bill Kees Abdul-Qadr. Bill Kees is the all-time leading scorer in Massachusetts history for high school basketball.
1:21.0	She played NCAA Division I basketball at University of Memphis and Indiana State.
1:26.6	She had a real chance of being a professional baller,
1:29.9	but her career was totally stalled when she found out about Fiba's rule.
1:34.5	And since then, she's been an activist
1:36.2	and the athletic director of a private school in Memphis
1:38.6	and an athlete ambassador for Shurzanan,
1:41.8	which is a Muslim women and sports advocacy group.
1:44.8	Hi, Bilkis, welcome to the show.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ahmed Ali Akbar, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ahmed Ali Akbar and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.