{"id":3084,"date":"2013-10-28T06:14:40","date_gmt":"2013-10-28T06:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3084"},"modified":"2013-10-28T06:14:40","modified_gmt":"2013-10-28T06:14:40","slug":"islam-gave-me-happiness-nz-rugby-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/","title":{"rendered":"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Preparing for world cup, a New Zealand rugby Muslim star has said that Islam has made him a new man after a successful spell playing union where he won the World Cup with the All Blacks.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“I wouldn’t be half the man I am today without my faith,” New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams said in a BBC video.<\/span>
Four years in union, including a World Cup win, six professional victories as a boxer, William\u2019s conversion to Islam have seen him return to league a new man.<\/span>
\u201cI think I\u2019ve become a better person. When I play, I play well,\u201d Williams said.<\/span>
\u201cI get a lot of love, a lot of respect,\u201d he added.<\/span>
New Zealand are looking to retain the title they won in 2008, with Williams seeking to become the first player to win a World Cup in both codes of the game.<\/span>
Born in 1985, Williams a top-notch rugby star in New Zealand.<\/span>
He reverted to Islam in 2008 after attending prayer services at a Sydney mosque.<\/span>
The superstar is the first Muslim to play for the All Blacks rugby team.<\/span>
Williams\u2019 younger sister Niall Williams is a New Zealand international touch football player, and won gold at the Youth World Cup in 2005 and silver at the 2011 Touch Football World Cup.<\/span>
\u201cIslam has given me happiness. I don\u2019t go around preaching or anything. It is like something that\u2019s just with me,\u201d Williams said in another video posted on YouTube last September.<\/span>
\u201cWhat it has done for me on my inside I can\u2019t really explain. But obviously it\u2019s helped with my footy, cause I don\u2019t drink or anything like that anymore and I try to live a lot cleaner lifestyle and things like that, but essentially it\u2019s just made me a lot happier.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Role Model<\/strong><\/span>
Turning from league\u2019s most hated player, New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney said that international rugby league fans will see a new player.<\/span>
\u201cHe’s been fantastic. He’s been really good,” Kearney said of the 28-year-old, who won the NRL with the Sydney Roosters earlier this month, told 3News website on Sunday, October 27.<\/span>
“He’s light years away from where he has. He was always a special talent but he’s five years on, wiser and more mature. He’s different.<\/span>
“He has got to know himself. He’s measured himself, he’s grown and is a man now. We all need time to do that. At the time he was a 22-year-old, a big fish in the pond and some of us don’t handle that.”<\/span>
The south-pacific island country of New Zealand is home to 36,000 Muslims, according to the 2006 census.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: OnIslam<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Preparing for world cup, a New Zealand rugby Muslim star has said that Islam has made him a new man after a successful spell playing union where he won the World Cup with the All Blacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIslam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star - SunniOnline<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star - SunniOnline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Preparing for world cup, a New Zealand rugby Muslim star has said that Islam has made him a new man after a successful spell playing union where he won the World Cup with the All Blacks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SunniOnline\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-28T06:14:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"majed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"majed\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"majed\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\"},\"headline\":\"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-28T06:14:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":455,\"commentCount\":0,\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/\",\"name\":\"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star - SunniOnline\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-28T06:14:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/2013\\\/10\\\/28\\\/3084\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/\",\"name\":\"SunniOnline\",\"description\":\"The Official Website of Sunni Community in Iran\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be\",\"name\":\"majed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"majed\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/sunnionline.us\\\/english\\\/author\\\/majed\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star - SunniOnline","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star - SunniOnline","og_description":"Preparing for world cup, a New Zealand rugby Muslim star has said that Islam has made him a new man after a successful spell playing union where he won the World Cup with the All Blacks.","og_url":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/","og_site_name":"SunniOnline","article_published_time":"2013-10-28T06:14:40+00:00","author":"majed","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"majed","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/"},"author":{"name":"majed","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be"},"headline":"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star","datePublished":"2013-10-28T06:14:40+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/"},"wordCount":455,"commentCount":0,"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/","url":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/","name":"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star - SunniOnline","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-28T06:14:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2013\/10\/28\/3084\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Islam Gave Me Happiness: NZ Rugby Star"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#website","url":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/","name":"SunniOnline","description":"The Official Website of Sunni Community in Iran","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/#\/schema\/person\/26da0e970ff572e94f1b7d9009ab39be","name":"majed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d14a5567692b3eb9bd620c2cb94ec98fcf8d44e4ec418fc172b76b04163a7ee9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"majed"},"url":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/author\/majed\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3084"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3084\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}