British Snooker Ace Ronnie O'Sullivan Masuk Islam

British Snooker Ace Ronnie O'Sullivan Masuk Islam - Satu lagi public figure dari Inggris di bidang olahraga bola-sodok, menyatakan diri masuk Islam. Dia adalah Ronnie O'Sullivan. Harian Inggris hari Ahad (28/9) ramai memuat berita yang cukup mengejutkan banyak pihak tentang masuk Islamnya Ronnie, seorang mantan juara snooker dunia terkenal. Menurut Ibunya, Maria, kepada harian The Sunday Times (ST), “Diri Ronnie sekarang jauh lebih baik sejak ia berpindah agama. Saya harap itu akan membuatnya stabil.” 

Menurut penuturan Maria, petinju Inggris asal Yaman, Prince Naseem Hamed yang membantu anaknya untuk menerima Islam sebagai agama barunya. “Prince Naseem merupakan teman baik Ronnie,” ucap ibu Maria kepada harian ST. Sang Ibu mengatakan bahwa Naseem menjadi faktor utama dalam peng-Islaman Ronnie. 

O’Sullivan, pemuda yang dibesarkan dalam lingkungan Kristen Roma Katholik di Timur kota London, telah memutuskan untuk pindah memeluk agama Islam di Pusat Kebudayaan Islam di London dalam suatu upacaya singkat pada bulan lalu.

Menurut BBC online, O’Sullivan yang dijuluki “Rocket” karena kecepatan menghabisi bola snooker. Ia bersama Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott dan John Higgins sebagai satu-satunya pria yang memenangkan kejuaraan dunia dan Inggris di tahun yang sama. O’Sullivan dijuluki oleh Peter Ebdon dengan Mozart-nya permainan snooker. Dalam usia yang relatif muda 17 tahun, ia telah memenangkan peringkat turnamen dengan mengalahkan Stephen Hendry di tahun 1993 di kejuaraan snooker Inggris. 

O’Sullivan bergabung dalam barisan olahragawan Barat yang masuk Islam seperti Muhammad Ali dan Mike Tyson. Namun seorang selebritis terkenal Inggris yang memeluk Islam jauh sebulum O’Sullivan adalah bintang penyanyi pop Cat Stevens yang sekarang dikenal dengan nama Yusuf Islam.

O’Sullivan dalam melalui ujian masa kecilnya, di mana bapaknya dipenjara karena kasus pembunuhan. Sementara ibunya ditahan karena pelanggaran pajak. Pada tahun 2001 ia berhasil menjuarai kejuaraan snooker dunia. 

Menurut Agence France-Presse (AFP), walau talentanya O’Sullivan yang mengagumkan, ia yang kini berusia 27 tahun harus berperang dengan kecanduan minuman dan obat-obatan serta depresi.

Masyarakat Inggris menaruh harapan besar pada O’Sullivan untuk maju satu langkah lagi untuk mengangkat tropi snooker dunia. Ia memenangkan gelar juara di Inggris untuk kedua kalinya di tahun 1997, dan mencapai semi-final dalam Kejuaraan Kedutaan Internasional di tahun 1998 dan 1999. 

O’Sullivan telah mengangkat dunia snooker dengan kemampuan alami dan penampilannya yang memikat penonton. (dim/iol/eramuslim)

British Snooker Ace Ronnie O'Sullivan embraced Islam 

"Ronnie is a lot better in himself since he converted," his mother said

LONDON, September 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Former world snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has embraced Islam, his mother told a British newspaper Sunday, September 28.

"Ronnie is a lot better in himself since he converted. I hope it will steady him," his mother Maria told The Sunday Times.

She said that Yemen-born British boxer Prince Naseem Hamed, a Muslim, helped her son accept Islam.
"Prince Naseem has been a good friend to Ronnie," she told the paper, asserting he "has been the main factor."

O'Sullivan, who was raised as a Roman Catholic in east London, converted at the Islamic Cultural Center in London during a short ceremony last month, according to The Sunday Times.

Nicknamed the "Rocket" for the speed in which he can clear a snooker table, he joined Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott and John Higgins as the only men to have won the World and UK Championships in the same year, according to the BBC online sports service.

O'Sullivan joins boxers Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson as leading sportsmen who have embraced Islam.

Britain's most famous celebrity-turned-Muslim is pop star Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam.

O'Sullivan overcame a troubled childhood, in which his father was jailed for murder and his mother for tax offences, to win snooker's world championship in 2001.

Despite his precocious talent, the 27-year-old has battled drink and drug addiction as well as depression, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Hailed as Mozart of Snooker by Peter Ebdon, O'Sullivan was the youngest, at 17, to win a ranking tournament - beating Stephen Hendry at the 1993 UK Championship, said the BBC.

Ever since, the public had eagerly waited for O'Sullivan to go one step further and lift the world crown.

He won the UK title for the second time in 1997 and then reached the semi-finals of the Embassy World Championships in 1998 and 1999.

But he struggled to find that extra gear and temperament to defeat John Higgins and Stephen Hendry.

O'Sullivan has lit up the world of snooker with his natural ability and his showman performances.
Journey to Islam Oleh : Redaksi 29 Apr 2004 - 3:03 am

1 comment:

  1. This is a very old article, it must be about 10 years old, and Ronnie has since clearly indicated, notably in his books, that he has NOT converted to Islam or any religion. He has shown interest in various faith, including Buddhism and has friends who are muslims but himself is not religious.

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