SPORT, RELIGION, AND THE FUTURE 1
Analysis Paper: Sport, Religion, and the Future Assignment
Kyla Magowan
School of Business, Liberty University
SPORT, RELIGION, AND THE FUTURE 2
Analysis Paper: Sport, Religion, and the Future Assignment
We live in a world today that is heavily influenced and dominated by sport. Because of
this, sport is seen through dozens, even hundreds of different cultural and religious lenses,
indicating different personal meaning to athletics depending on your beliefs and background. The
muscular Christianity movement primarily took place in the United States and United Kingdom
during the 19th and 20th centuries, fusing Christian beliefs and ideals with that of sport and
competition. The movement not only believed that athletics was good for a person’s physical
well-being, but that it provided great social opportunities and benefited people spiritually
(Meyer, Wynveen, & Watson, 2020). As Westerners, we tend to be familiar with these views and
consider them to be widely accepted, holding professional and amateur sport in high regard, but
not all countries and religions view sport in the same ways that we do.
In the Islamic religion, activities that help maintain one’s overall health and well being
through physical strength are considered beneficial to the individual, as being physically fit can
help one in their striving and effort to practice their faith, or even take part in jihad (Rahim, Diah,
Jani, Ahmad, 2019). In this, we find a similarity between sport in the context of Christianity as
well as Islam. Many cannot deny the positive mental, emotional, and physical benefits from
participating in athletics and training. Additionally, there are many instances in the Bible that use
sports and competition to help explain certain concepts about our faith. Just as Islam believes
that physical fitness helps their believers to strive for improvement in their faith, so Christianity
encourages its believers to apply the same kind of dedication and drive to their journey in the
faith as they would in an athletic competition. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all
run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who
competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but
SPORT, RELIGION, AND THE FUTURE 3
we for an imperishable crown.” (NKJV, I Corinthians 9:24-25).
In opposition to Christianity, sports are permitted in the Islamic faith as long as they do
not violate the teachings and laws of Allah. Some of these accommodations with sport
participation include: the allowance of observing prayer and other obligations, wearing clothing
that fully covers the body and is not too tight or thin (especially for women), keeping men’s and
women’s’ sports segregated, and avoiding wearing clothing that imitates that of the other gender
(Zawawi, Matzani, 2022). Because of these religious standards, you would not find athletes of
the Islamic faith participating in certain competitions such as swimming, due to the lack of body
coverage swimsuits offer, and the mixed doubles in tennis and the sports of archery and
equestrian, where male and female archers and jockeys will usually compete against one another
regularly. For other sports that are gender segregated, accommodations for Islamic competitors
can be easily made out of respect for their beliefs.
Perhaps the largest difference between predominantly Christian/Western countries, and
those that are Islamic, is the presence and dedication to studying sport, its social trends, and its
management on amateur and professional levels. While study of sport and social issues in sport
are not unknown in the Muslim world and at Muslim Universities, the focus of their study is
extremely different compared to that of Western universities. Many Islamic programs focus on
the topics of masculinity, the wearing of a hijab (the traditional head and facial covering for
Islamic women), and how to participate in sport in compliance with their religion (Rahim, Diah,
Jani, Ahmad, 2019). This is roughly the extent of sport and sport sociology programs for higher
education in Islamic countries. Meanwhile, western universities offer several different focuses of
study for sports and athletics, breaking the subject into focused categories that include science,
psychology, nutrition, training, coaching, and more.
SPORT, RELIGION, AND THE FUTURE 4
Sport is considered a positive and beneficial experience from both world views, and
participation at any level is encouraged and looked well upon. We see many Muslim athletes in
professional sports, worldwide competitions like the Olympics, and in college athletics. During
the 2023 NCAA DI men’s basketball March Madness, UConn center, Adama Sanogo, was
observing the Ramadan fast during the tournament and received media attention for it (Al-
Khateeb, 2023). Sanogo demonstrated that he could observe and practice his faith while still
performing at an elite level, just as anyone else of another faith could. By having this
understanding and being prepared to make religious accommodation to strictly adhered too
beliefs will help others understand that they are respected and valued in a culture that is not their
own and will show the world that sport is where people of all cultures and beliefs can come
together to compete fairly and honorably represent their homes.
SPORT, RELIGION, AND THE FUTURE 5
References
Al-Khateeb, Z., (2023). Adama Sanogo’s Ramadan fast, explained: why UConn star is limiting
eating, drinking, during Huskies’ Final Four run. The Sporting News.
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-basketball/news/adama-sanogos-ramadan-fast-
uconn-final-four/tvqwydrh7ktbaeff4minck53
Bible Gateway, (2016). I Corinthians 9:24-25. New King James Version.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+9&version=NKJV
Meyer, A.R., Wynveen, C. J., & Watson, N. (2020). Measurement of muscular Christian ideals in
sport: validation of the contemporary muscular Christian instrument. International
Review for the Sociology of Sport., 55(2), 169–185.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1012690218796162
Rahim, B. H. A., Diah, N. M., Jani, H. M., & Ahmad, A. S. (2019). Islam and sport: from human
experiences to revelation. Intellectual Discourse, 27(2), 413-430.
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/islam-sport-human-experiences-revelation/docview/2345781913/se-2
Zawawi, M., & Matzani, R., (2022). Islam, malay, women and sports from the brunei darussalam
perspective. Religions, (16), 80-91. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2788901196?
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https%3A%2F
%2Fsearch.proquest.com%2Fcentral%3Faccountid%3D12085&pq-origsite=summon
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