"As far as we're concerned, it's irrelevant," Khawaja Sr said. "We never look at it in those terms. We never discuss religion. It is in the background, because he is an Australian."
Should Michael Clarke wake on Thursday and his back is screaming like a banshee, his former Westfield Sports High schoolmate Khawaja will replace him for the first Test.
Pakistan-born Khawaja has been dispatching myth and prejudice to the boundary for the past few seasons with the same class and determination that has seen him do it with regular monotony to a Kookaburra ball.
While Clarke remains hopeful he can play, Khawaja looked ready to seize the moment as he batted in the Gabba nets.
TARIQ Khawaja does not want you to look at his son and see a Muslim, although he acknowledges the untold good that will come should Usman Khawaja become the first of that faith to wear a baggy green.
Khawaja was born in Islamabad and moved to Australia with his parents and two older brothers in 1990 when he was three. Yet his cricket rise has readily been viewed through the prism of his religion, whether he is fasting for Ramadan or praying at a mosque before a day's play.
"We know it would be a very good thing (for Muslims and non-Muslims)," he said. "He can be a role model and show that if you put in the hard work, you can achieve. And it can also show that Australia is an open country."
sShould Khawaja be presented with his baggygreen tomorrow morning before the first ball of the Ashes series, you can bet Tariq Khawaja and his wife, Fozia Tariq, will be in the stands.
They will be there to watch their son, who just so happens to be a Muslim.
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