Demba Ba

Demba Ba is a Senegalese retired footballer, born in Sèvres, France in 1985. ¹ A striker, he played for Hoffenheim, West Ham United, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Beşiktaş, Shanghai Shenhua and İstanbul Başakşehir, and won 22 caps for Senegal. ¹ A practising Muslim, he fasts during Ramadan and celebrates goals with the sujud; no source names a school for him, so his data record records his faith as unknown. ¹²

Ba made his name at Hoffenheim, scoring 40 goals in 103 appearances, before moving to England with West Ham United in 2011 and then to Newcastle United, where his goalscoring made him one of the Premier League's most sought-after strikers. ¹ Chelsea signed him in January 2013; he later played for Beşiktaş, for Shanghai Shenhua — where a serious leg break in 2016 interrupted his spell — for Göztepe and for İstanbul Başakşehir, retiring at Lugano in 2021. ¹

Born and raised in France, Ba was a full international for Senegal, winning 22 caps. ¹

The English article calls Ba a practising Muslim: he observes the Ramadan fast, celebrates goals by performing the sujud towards Mecca, and in 2013 refused, with Newcastle's other Muslim players, to wear the shirt sponsor Wonga, a payday loan firm; in 2014 he auctioned a Chelsea jersey to fund the Collective against Islamophobia in France. ¹ The Arabic article likewise states that he professes Islam, fasts and performs the sujud, and the French article quotes his own words after the January 2015 Paris attacks — “Je suis musulman”. ³⁴ These are generic identifications and observed practice; no source names a school or madhhab for him, and Wikidata gives his religion simply as Islam, so his record states his faith as unknown. ²

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