Junoon
The Arabic word that opens this month’s journal carries a deeper meaning, not just in the context of this research, but in the grander scale of life. Found also in the Hindu and Urdu language, “junoon” is used to describe madness, passion, and obsession. The obsession can lean towards the reckless, where that passion can lean towards the reckless, where that passion can consume the individual fully. It can equally lean into what was described as “divine madness”, creativity fully unthethered and unbound.
Nimrah Riaz has been living this idea for the last seven years. As founder of the Muslim Organization for Sports, Socials, and Education (MOSSE) and an independent consultant, Nimrah has used her faith to connect her and countless other fans to the sports they love. She has worked with the Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, and Houston Dynamo to produce Muslim Family Nights with on field prayer circles, Halal food options, and meet and greets with fellow Muslim athletes. These events brought upwards of 1,500+ fans, proving how much the Muslim sports fan is looking for genuine representation in their community. Working with her for the past month, we spoke with countless Muslim sports fans across recreation leagues, supporters groups, along with barrier breaking athletes to understand how their faith lives alongside their fandom. By understanding what fuels their love through sports, we hope to build a more accurate picture of what our Muslim brothers and sisters need to join in on the divine madness that is fandom.