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 online on a wide range of topics, and recently took to Instagram to share his thoughts on women’s health and wellness.
But with Halloween eight days away, the former St George Illawarra Dragons and Brisbane Broncos five-eighths shared his thoughts on the holiday and appeared to condemn the annual festival of fear.
The former footy star reposted a video from @Gemsofshaykhutman on Instagram, with a heart emoji and an ‘open hands’ emoji.
In the video, a man appears to speak to a camera and answer the question, “Can we celebrate Halloween?”
The man says, “If you’re Christian, if you’re Muslim, if you’re Jewish, if you believe in God, you can’t celebrate Halloween.
“This is a devil-worshipping pagan festival that came out of Samhain, where they would glorify the satans, the devils. They would deal with the djinn.
‘This is something that is forbidden in every religious tradition. As a Muslim, don’t even think about letting your children get candy from a stranger.
‘All year round you tell your children not to accept sweets from strangers. And then today you tell them to go up to absolutely random people and tell them to take candy from them. You don’t know what they did with that candy.’
He added, “The CDC says you are four times more likely to have your children 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 played with the djinn and messed with the djinn and that’s why we see so many reports of people having djinn problems after this. This is a night [to] stay home, spend some time with your family and don’t mess with Halloween.”
Mundine played 116 games 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 and pursue a career in boxing instead.
The former footy star would go on to enjoy a distinguished boxing career, holding the WBA super-middleweight title and the IBO middleweight title twice during his career, with a record of 48-11-0, knocking out 28 of his opponents .
Anthony Mundie appeared to repost a video on his Instagram Story claiming 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 on why he had chosen to convert from Christianity to Islam in 1999, claiming that he found Christianity too complex to understand.
‘The country [Australia] was colonized and Christianity was forced on our people,” Mundine said.
“I really wanted to dig into it and see what their core beliefs are.
“They believe in the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and so on. Three kinds of separate identities, not three, but one.
“And actually it was confusing to me.”
Mundine had never smoked, drank alcohol or used drugs during his life, which he said made the transition to Islam easy.
“That fit like a glove,” he said. “I missed feeding that soul inside me and when I got that [from Islam] it was a shawl.’
Mundine has often shared his views on a range of topics on social media, and recently appeared to give women advice on their health and wellbeing.
Mundine, one of Australia’s greatest athletes, recently raised eyebrows after sharing a video on Instagram of user Lauren Taylor talking about how drinking pickle juice had eased the pain she experienced from menstrual cramps.
“For the ladies, thank me later,” the former boxing champion posted.