A cricket scorecard is pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n
It shows you how many runs you scored, how long you played and whether your team won or lost. Cricket<\/a> has always been appealing to me because of that honesty. The numbers don\u2019t care about your appearance, where you were born or what you believe.<\/p>\n Life, unfortunately, isn\u2019t as simple.<\/p>\n I grew up in western Sydney<\/a>, where diversity wasn\u2019t something governments talked about \u2013 it was simply life. My mates came from all over the world. Different cultures, different languages, different faiths. We were all just kids who loved sport.<\/p>\n If I experienced prejudice growing up, it wasn\u2019t because I was Muslim. Most people didn\u2019t know much about Islam<\/a> back then.<\/p>\n It was because I was the brown kid.<\/p>\n Sometimes it was a joke. Sometimes an assumption. Sometimes it was just that quiet feeling of being reminded you were different. Racism rarely shouts. More often, it whispers that perhaps you don\u2019t quite belong.<\/p>\n Cricket became the place where none of that was supposed to matter. If you scored runs, you earned your place.<\/p>\n Or at least I wanted to believe that.<\/p>\n As I progressed through representative cricket and into the Australian team, there were times I still felt like an outsider. Not because people necessarily intended it, but because when you\u2019re one of very few people who look like you, pray like you or share your background, you become constantly aware of your difference.<\/p>\n Sport loves to celebrate diversity. We proudly feature it in campaigns and photographs. But inclusion is something deeper. It\u2019s creating an environment where nobody has to wonder whether they truly belong.<\/p>\n The Christchurch mosque shootings changed that conversation for ever.<\/p>\n Watching innocent people murdered while praying was a reminder that hatred doesn\u2019t begin with violence. It begins with words and stereotypes. It\u2019s the slow process of dehumanising people until the unthinkable becomes possible.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why I accepted an invitation to speak at the Reporting Islamophobia campaign<\/a>, which is a pretty good initiative by the office of the special envoy to combat Islamophobia<\/a>, led by Aftab Malik.<\/p>\n I\u2019m all for this campaign because reporting is pretty important. Too often, anti-Muslim abuse is brushed off as just \u201conline\u201d or \u201csomeone\u2019s opinion\u201d. But hate can build up. Every insult, threat and abusive message chips away at someone\u2019s sense of belonging. Reporting this helps show how big the problem is and gives governments, institutions and digital platforms the evidence they need to take action.<\/p>\n Most importantly, it lets victims know they\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve noticed something change over time. People started focusing more on my faith than my cricket.<\/p>\n For years, Australians were debating my batting technique, whether I should open or bat at number three. That\u2019s cricket, and I\u2019m happy for people to disagree.<\/p>\n What surprised me was when some people stopped talking about my batting altogether.<\/p>\n The cricketer disappeared behind the Muslim.<\/p>\n Khawaja celebrates scoring a century for Australia during an Ashes Test against England in 2023. Photograph: Paul Greenwood\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n My wife, who\u2019s an Australian who embraced Islam, has often received even more abuse than I have. Watching someone you love become a target because of the faith she chose reminds you that prejudice never just affects one person. It reaches families, children and whole communities.<\/p>\n Like every community, Muslims are diverse. But the majority of us just want what every Australian wants: to build a good life, raise our families, contribute to our communities and practise our faith in peace.<\/p>\n For many of us, that means we don\u2019t drink alcohol, we dress modestly and we try to live with kindness, humility and respect. These aren\u2019t values that are outside Australian society. They\u2019re values that strengthen it.<\/p>\n