Former professional boxer and rugby league star Anthony Mundine shared a video on his Instagram story on Wednesday of a man claiming Halloween was a ‘devil-worshipping pagan festival’.
The 49-year-old Australian has often shared his opinions on a broad range of topics online, recently taking to Instagram to share views on women’s health and wellness.
But with Halloween now eight days away, the former St George Illawarra Dragons and Brisbane Broncos five-eighth shared his views on the holiday, appearing to condemn the annual fright festival.
The former footy star reposted a video from @Gemsofshaykhutman on Instagram, adding a heart emoji and an ‘open hands’ emoji.
In the video, a man appears to address a camera and appears to answer the question: ‘Can we celebrate Halloween?’
The man says: ‘If you’re a Christian, if you’re a Muslim, if you’re Jewish, if you believe in god, you cannot be celebrating Halloween.
‘This is a devil-worshipping pagan festival that came from Samhain, where they would glamorise the satans, the devils. They would deal with the jinn.
‘This is something that is forbidden in every religious tradition. As a Muslim, don’t even think about letting your children go and get candy from some stranger.
‘All year long you tell your children not to go and take candy from strangers. And then this day you tell them to go to absolutely random people and tell them to take candy from them. You don’t know what they’ve done to that candy.’
He added: ‘The CDC says that you have four times the chance of your kids being hit by a car than any other night of the year. This is something haram and forbidden in every religious tradition.
‘This is something, a night where they used to play with the jinn and mess with the jin and that’s why we see so many reports of people having jinn issues after this. This is a night [to] stay home, spend some time with your family and don’t mess with Halloween.’
Mundine made 116 appearances for the Dragons and 18 for the Broncos during his rugby league career.
He would also represent New South Wales in three Origin tests but would hang up his boots in 2000, instead pursuing a career in boxing.
The former footy star would enjoy a distinguished boxing career, clinching the WBA super-middleweight title twice during his career and the IBO middleweight title, taking a record of 48-11-0, knocking out 28 of his opponents.
Anthony Mundie appeared to repost a video on his Instagram story that claimed Halloween was a ‘devil-worshipping pagan festival’, adding a heart emoji and ‘open hands’ emoji
Two years ago, the 49-year-old had lifted the lid about why he had opted to convert from Christianity to Islam in 1999, claiming that he had found Christianity too complex to understand.
‘The country [Australia] was colonised and Christianity was forced upon our people,’ Mundine said.
‘I wanted to really delve in and see what their core belief is.
‘They believe in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, whatnot. Three sort of separate, identities being, not three, but one.
‘And just really, it was confusing for me.’
Mundine had never smoked, drank alcohol or taken drugs during his life, which he said made the switch to Islam an easy one.
‘That just came together like a glove,’ he said. ‘I was missing feeding that soul within me and when I got that [from Islam] it was a wrap.’
Mundine has often shared his views on a range of subjects on social media, recently appearing to offer advice to women over their health and wellness
One of Australia’s greatest athletes, Mundine recently raised eyebrows after he shared a video on Instagram from user Lauren Taylor, who spoke out on how drinking pickle juice had helped ease the pain she experienced from menstrual cramps.
‘For the ladies thank me later,’ posted the former boxing champion.
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