London: Inspired by Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah, a former Islamophobe named Ben Bird announced reversion to Islam. Ben is a UK national.
According to The Guardian, attributing the change in him to Salah, Ben wished to meet and thank the footballer for “guiding him towards the right path.”
Because of his misleading ideas about Islamic culture, Bird used to be a Muslim-hating extremist. Salah’s “inspirational behaviour removed his misconceptions about Islam.”
Bird told that the first time he met a Muslim during college, he had thought Muslims were evil people with weapons to kill others. However, later he found them to be among “the most genuine people he has met.”
Bird was very much impressed by the way Mohamed Salah lives his life and talks to people. The incident which touched him the most was when Mohammed Salah featured in a picture with a fanboy with a broken nose.
Bird decided to do his research in college about his role model, Salah. During his research he came to know that Salah donated US$3 million towards the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to help restore its facilities after a terrorist attack took place near the building on Sunday midnight, August. He also donated 5 pound sterling million to the Tahya Masr Fund in January 2017. Whenever Salah scores any goal, he offers ‘sajda (prostration)’ thanking God, which influenced Bird tremendously.