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NZ Rugby Superstar Visits Makkah for Umrah

MAKKAH – One Kiwi All Blacks rugby team superstar, Sonny Bill Williams, has traveled to the Muslims’ most holy city of Makkah to perform Umrah and visit Al-Madinah.

The rugby star posted a picture of himself on Twitter posing in front of the Prophet’s Mosque on January 15.

“What an amazing feeling visiting the prophets(as) holy masjid in Madinah,” he said in the post.

Madinah is one of the holiest sites in Islam and the place where Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was buried.

Footage posted on social media showed Williams being led in an Islamic prayer by Sheikh Kamal Abu Mariam as they stood beside the grave.

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“Thanks to the Shieks for their insightful knowledge today,” he said in another post.

The cross-code superstar recently spoke to MailOnline about his faith.

“I’m a proud Muslim. It’s given me a feeling of happiness and contentment I’ve always looked for. I see it as a responsibility,” he said.

“Before I became a Muslim, I lived up in a flash house in Toulon and would worry about where the pair of boots I’d ordered were or some rubbish like that.

That changed when he met a Tunisian family living in a one-bedroom apartment “in the projects.”

“They didn’t have much but they always had me around for breakfast and never asked for anything back,” he said.

“They always asked Allah for guidance and it really struck a chord.”

Born in 1985, Williams is a top-notch rugby star in New Zealand.

He is the only Muslim in the New Zealand squad, both in the Sevens and the XVs.

His conversion to Islam in 2008 took place after attending prayer services at a Sydney mosque.

The south-pacific island country of New Zealand is home to 36,000 Muslims, according to the 2006 census.