Wearing a soccer shirt with a cross symbol
Q: Please can you advise on the permissibility of wearing the England football shirt? Unfortunately many brothers have taken to not only wearing this, but also displaying the England flag on their houses during football matches. They also do this with the Union Jack flag during the Olympics/for celebration of the queens milestones (e.g. jubilee celebration).
The arguments put forth by these individuals are that the cross symbol is no longer solely representative of the Christian faith and identity as it is used more widely nowadays to represent other things and doesn’t just signify one is a Christian. As an example, they say that just because isis used the seal of the prophet Muhammad ﷺ does that mean everyone who uses the seal of the Prophet ﷺ follows isis? They also say that as wearing a necktie was once associated with the cross but no longer is today, in the same vein, wearing the St. George’s Cross of England flag no longer represents Christianity.
Please can you provide us with a clear cut answer as the brothers are unsure how to respond to some of these shubuhat.
A: The cross is not something recent. It can be traced to even before the time of Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam); it was common amongst the Christians and kuffaar and Nabi (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) had strongly condemned it. This is a clear symbol of disbelief and supporting the belief of crucifixion.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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