Posted: October 5th, 2017

In Muslim countries, are sports conducted independently of the predominant religious views, or are they closely intertwined?

At first glance, sport and religion may seem entirely unrelated. But throughout history, people have often linked the two and blended them into their belief systems. Although there have been many athletes in many sports who follow religions other than Christianity, no religion has dominated sport as the Christian faith has. In today’s sport world, one often sees athletes praying together before or after contests, making the sign of the cross before attempting a foul shot in basketball, crediting God for a victory, and quoting Scripture to justify their pursuit of excellence in sport.

In the last century, organized religious leaders gradually embraced sport as another avenue to reach the masses and influence their behavior toward a worthy, godly existence. That change in philosophy gave rise to the interrelationship between religion and sport that exists today.

After Christianity, Islam is second in popularity. With this in mind, and based on your sports interests and career goals, investigate how sport and sport participation is affected in countries where the Muslim population is in the majority. Compare and contrast sport participation in Christian countries (such as the U.S.) to a dominant Muslim country, and explain how each religion affects youth sports, school sports, elite competition in world events such as the Olympics, participation by females, and the popularity of professional sports. In Muslim countries, are sports conducted independently of the predominant religious views, or are they closely intertwined?