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All Black Sonny Bill Williams has said he is most happy when he is saying his prayers.
In an article in the UK Daily Mail, Williams admitted to having to fit his Islamic diet and prayer around an intensive rugby schedule.
“When I’m most happy is when I’m doing my prayers,” he said.
“When you travel you can compensate by joining the two afternoon prayers and the two evening prayers together, which is pretty sweet.”
“How can you not spare 25 minutes of your day to give thanks?
“I look at where I came from and feel blessed.”
Williams recounted how he grew up in a humble two bedroom house in Mt Albert in Auckland, which he shared with three siblings and his parents.
He admitted to being “a bit of a scallywag” in his early sports career
“I did a lot of bad things and went off course, but Allah was with me.”
In his current professional sports career, Williams sticks to his Islamic dietary regime.
“The chefs provide halal food. I get kind of embarrassed when they make a big deal out of it.
“I just want to fit in and be one of the boys, but at the same time faith is where everything comes from.
“If there’s no halal meat, I can eat seafood. If there’s no seafood, I’ll just have a shake or something. There are people worse off than I am.”
Williams visited Syrian refugees in Lebanon last year, as a guest of UNICEF.
He said more sports-people should use their profile to raise awareness of injustice.
The dual international said he used to be a Christian, but converting to Islam “has given me contentment and happiness that I don’t know how to explain”.
“I used to be a stress head, annoyed if I dropped a ball in training. . . . Islam is a way of life.
“Before, if I went out drinking or partying, I would be searching for something the next day with a hangover, getting eaten up inside.”
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