All season long, while his Denver Nuggets teammates lined up to face the flag during the national anthem, star guard Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf has sat off by himself in silent show of allegiance to his faith.
"I'm a Muslim first and a Muslim last," he said. "My duty is to my creator, not to nationalistic ideology."On Tuesday, the National Basketball Association suspended Abdul-Rauf indefinitely without pay, saying his refusal to stand violates a league rule requiring all players to "line up in a dignified posture" for the anthem.
"My beliefs are more important than anything," said Abdul-Rauf, who earns $2.6 million this season. "If I have to give up basketball, I will."
Calling the American flag "a symbol of oppression, of tyranny," Abdul-Rauf said: "This country has a long history of that. I don't think you can argue the facts. You can't be for God and for oppression."
Abdul-Rauf, who leads his team in scoring with an average of 19.6 points a game, was not at McNichols Arena for the Nuggets' 110-93 victory Tuesday over the Orlando Magic.
NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said the suspension will continue as long as Abdul-Rauf refuses to stand.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is supporting Abdul-Rauf's decision as a matter of religious conscience, said Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the group.
Hooper said today the issue of whether to stand for the national anthem is not spoken to directly in Islamic law, but Abdul-Rauf's response seems to be related to the principle that acts of worship should be to God alone.
Abdul-Rauf has typically stretched while sitting on the bench during the anthem this year. Recently, he has stayed in the locker room during the anthem and joined his teammates just before tipoff.
He has increasingly drawn criticism from some fans. A popular Denver call-in radio program devoted its entire show Tuesday to the topic.
"Refusing to stand up and recognize the unity of this nation as embodied under the flag to me is tantamount to treason," said Ed Wearing, state commander of the state's American Legion veterans organization.
Abdul-Rauf, formerly Chris Jackson, was the team's top draft pick out of Louisiana State University in 1990. The next year he embraced Islam, changing his name to words meaning: "Elegant and praiseworthy. Most merciful and most kind."