The Bangladeshi ex Muslim Taslima Nasreen has been roundly condemned for saying that England star Moeen Ali would have joined ISIS if it weren’t for his cricket.
Nasreen, who was expelled from Bangladesh for her anti-Islam views in the 1990s, tweeted: “If Moeen Ali were not stuck with cricket, he would have gone to Syria to join ISIS.”
It isn’t clear why she posted the tweet but over the weekend Ali hit the headlines for reportedly asking Chennai Super Kings to remove a sponsor’s logo of an alcohol company’s product from his team jersey. The 33-year-old all-rounder is currently playing for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League.
Later on Tuesday evening the author, who calls herself a “Secular Humanist and Feminist,” gave an explanation to her tweet posting: “Haters know very well that my Moeen Ali tweet was sarcastic. But they made that an issue to humiliate me because I try to secularize Muslim society & I oppose Islamic fanaticism. One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is pro-women leftists support anti-women Islamists.”
Following the post Nasreen found herself at the receiving end of a social media backlash.
“Are you okay? I don’t think you’re okay,” posted England bowler Jofra Archer. “Sarcastic? No one is laughing, not even yourself, the least you can do is delete the tweet.”
“Can’t believe this. Disgusting tweet. Disgusting individual”, wrote Lancashire and England fast bowler Saqib Mahmood.
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“This is the problem with this app. People being able to say stuff like this. Disgusting. Things need to change, please report this account!” England batsman Ben Duckett tweeted.
Moeen Ali is a practising Muslim and during a Test against India in Southampton in 2014 he wore wristbands carrying the slogans “Free Palestine” and “Save Gaza.”
Atheist Nasreen, 59, is a feminist author who was forced out of her country because of her controversial, anti-Islamic writings.
She has written against the so-called oppression of women and the Islamic code that she feels makes them virtually the chattel of men.
In 1993 a fatwa was issued against her in reaction to her novel Lajja which depicts the persecution of a Hindu family by Muslims.
A few days later she left the country to find sanctuary in Sweden. From Europe she moved to India in 2004, but her presence was sharply criticised by Muslims there. Nasreen then fled to the United States.
