Australia captain Pat Cummins has been widely praised for his great gesture Sunday after pausing alcohol celebrations so Muslim teammate Usman Khawaja could join in after helping seal dominant 4-0 win over England.
Cummins noticed Khawaja, a Muslim, jumped off stage as his teammates were opening champagne bottles, as a fashion in many sporting wins.
A quick-thinking Cummins instructed the players to put the bottles away before recalling Khawaja to the stage.
Congratulations to our Aussie legends 🏆👏
📺 Watch #Ashes Fifth Test – Day 3 on @Foxtel CH 501 or stream on @kayosports: https://t.co/fCVgFe57dr
📝 Blog: https://t.co/WTCEYIbHx9 pic.twitter.com/sL2xdZ1wLk— Fox Cricket (@FoxCricket) January 16, 2022
“Usman Khawaja had to miss part of the celebrations earlier today as alcohol was present but Pat Cummins made sure he was called over and the drinks put aside #AUSvENG #Cricket,” sports editor Saj Sadiq wrote on Twitter.
📚 Read Also: Why Islam Prohibits Drinking Alcohol
Khawaja hailed his Australian teammates for showing ‘compassion’ and stopping the champagne spraying so that he could join the team for the celebrations after the Ashes series win over England.
“If this video doesn’t show you that the boys have my back, I don’t know what will. They stopped their normal champagne celebrations so I could rejoin. Inclusivity in the game and our values as a sport are so important. I feel like we are trending in the right direction,” Khawaja tweeted.
The Ashes: Usman Khawaja thanks Australian teammates for holding champagne celebrations (Reuters Photo)
Similar Gestures
The incident recalled a similar move by former England skipper Alastair Cook in 2018, when they were celebrating a Test success.
As the England players readied for their champagne celebrations, Cook saw Moeen Ali standing away from his colleagues as he did not want to join due to his faith and therefore decided to shun alcohol celebrations to allow the Muslim player to join in.
Fans noticed Cummins’ gesture after the celebrations in Australia on Sunday, and took to social media to give credit to the skipper, Daily Mail reported.
“This might be a small gesture but this is what makes Pat Cummins great,” one fan wrote. “He realized Khawaja had to dip because of the booze and rectifies it.”
Another said: “Pat Cummins asking his teammates to stop throwing alcohol around so that Usman Khawaja can join in because of his beliefs. That’s sweet.”
And a third described Cummins as a “great player and an amazing human being”.
Islam takes an uncompromising stand in prohibiting intoxicants. It forbids Muslims from drinking or even selling alcohol.
The general rule in Islam is that any beverage that gets people intoxicated when taken is unlawful, both in small and large quantities, whether it is alcohol, drugs, fermented raisin drink or something else.