Professional heavyweight boxer and former rugby player from New Zealand, Sonny Bill Williams, is currently in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and undertaking his first Haj pilgrimage, which commenced on Friday, June 14.
Sonny has been invited by the authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to perform once-in-a-lifetime spiritual journey.
The 38-year-old boxer shared a video message on Instagram expressing gratitude for being invited to perform Haj and captioned the post that read, “I’ve been invited to perform Hajj, Alhamdullilah.”
He emphasised the spiritual significance of this pilgrimage in his path as a sportsman and Muslim.
He shared photo of himself in an ihram, the garments worn to perform Umrah by men. “Alhamdulillah completed my umrah. Excited for day 1 of Haj tomorrow. Bismillah.”
As the annual Islamic pilgrimage begins on Friday, Sonny shared a photo with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and US Muslim scholar and activist Omar Suleiman.
“Day of Arafat is here, may the most merciful accept our efforts. Allahu Akbar,” he wrote in a post on X on Saturday, June 15.
Sonny Bill Williams, who is of Samoan and European descent, converted to Islam in 2009 after meeting a Tunisian Muslim family who lives with their five children in a small apartment in Toulon (southern France).
He was a Christian before converting to Islam.
Sonny, who has now turned his attention to boxing, is never shy about his faith — his social media is full of Islamic threads and topics.
