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The Bond that Sports and exercise bring between the people and Allah in the Islamic Tradition
Joshua Esezobor
Religion 2001
Dr. Abbas Barzegar
25 May 2013
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How could sports and exercise affect religion? The common belief is that sports and
religion have nothing to do with each other, but these two things actually work hand in hand with
the belief systems of Islam and many other present day traditions. If sporting activities and
religion are both beneficial to the body and health of a person, how would these two things
benefit each other? The Islamic tradition can use sports and exercise to achieve specific goals
like good health, and a pure body to better practice rituals which are both beneficial to one’s
practice of faith. The involvement of sports and exercise is seen to create a stronger bond
between Allah and his people. In a sense, involving sports in the Islamic tradition is actually a
stepping stone to increasing spirituality.
Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over one billion followers. The
belief in one god makes this population named Muslims a monotheistic culture. With basis of
their laws coming from a holy book called the Qur’an and the Sunnah, Muslims choose to live a
life that is pleasing to their god Allah. While pleasing their god involves many practices,
Muslims are required to complete five pillars in order to be closer to god. These pillars are
recitation of the profession of faith, performing prayer five times a day, charity, fasting during
the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to Mecca. By following these five pillars in everyday life
ones faith is being put into action and their lives are interweaved with everything believed in
their religion. While a daily life as this may seem stressful and time consuming, the Islamic faith
follows these pillars along with many practices and rituals which may be very exhausting if a
proper view of health and fitness is not implemented. So, how do the involvement of sports and
exercise play a role in a Muslim completing his everyday tasks?
Remaining pure in a physical sense is not only a good way to complete the everyday
tasks of being Muslim but to also bring yourself closer to the one god Allah. The involvement of
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sports and exercise in the Islamic faith helps Muslims do something that bystanders of this
religion would never even imagine, and that is to remain faithful and obedient to their god.
Obesity, weakness and laziness are all noteworthy things that can make a Muslim blameworthy
in his faith which is why sports may play a very important role in omitting these things out of
one’s life. Allah expects Muslims to take care of their bodies to the best of their abilities in order
to practice worship in a long life, if so given by Allah. So the importance of the involvement of
sports in the Islamic tradition stands as an important feature to being as spiritual as possible.
Since the word Islam means “submission to the will of God”, it is vital for one to do all
he can to be submissive. While a clean and pure body is seen as a gift from Allah, each person is
accountable for how they use they body and dishonor will fall upon them if their body is not
treated in a healthy manner. Attention given to sports and exercise also helps one of Islamic faith
to be able to perform certain tasks involved in their worship. While one of the five pillars of
Islam is to “pray five times a day”, one who is physically unable to complete this task cannot
truly be submitting or creating a bond between themselves and Allah which is not an increase in
spirituality. Ancient Islamic sports like: wrestling, archery, horseback riding, swimming and
many others were used as entertaining ways in which Muslims could strengthen their resolve to
live by Allah’s standards and grow in their quest to have an unbreakable bond with him.
As sports are seen exclusively as entertainment to other world traditions, to the Islamic
tradition sports are beneficial to helping Muslims build faith and live towards Allah’s standards
in everyday life. Time is something that is to be used wisely and constructively in the Islamic
religion and wasting time doing things that have nothing to do with one’s faith is not acceptable
to Muslim’s. Sports also are beneficial because they help to build love and happiness within
family life which is a positive way to build family strength in worship. As prophets are very
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upstanding examples to Muslims today, a key note in Islamic faith is that prophets were naturally
physically fit not only because life was harder and required more work but because sports were
constantly played as seen in the scriptures when a quote says “I raced with the prophet and beat
him in a race. Later, when I had put on some weight, we raced again and he won.” We see here
that the basic sport of running was done even by prophets which encourage Muslims today to
follow in the path of ones who were faithful to Allah before their time. Lastly, sports also are
beneficial in self-defense which is something that Allah approved of. Belief that “a Muslim
should be able to defend his or herself from aggression (which requires physical strength)” is
encouraged and supported by sport and exercise involvement on a regular basis.
While the average human believes that sports and exercise are frivolous activities,
Muslims show that these things are very important to their faith and bond to Allah. The
involvement of sports in everyday life has many benefits that can attribute to spiritual growth
and well-being. Things like time, love and happiness, following the path of prophets, and selfdefense are all benefits of being involved in sporting activities on a regular basis. The world’s
general view of sports may be only to entertain, but as seen in the Islamic culture it helps to
create a stronger bond between Allah and his people.
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Works Cited
BBC. “Islam.” Religions, last modified January 2013.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/
Esposito, John. “Introduction: The Islamic Tradition.” United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, last modified 2013. http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/ecumenical
-and-interreligious/interreligious/islam/introduction-the-islamic-tradition.cfm
Esposito, John L. Islam: The Straight Path. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press,
1997. A general introduction to Islam which covers the history of Islamic belief and
practice with special emphasis on modern Islam.
Nauright, John. Sports around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. (Santa Barbara: ABCCLIO,2012), 296-7.
Souza, Ahmad. “An Islamic Perspective on Sports and Exercise.” Onlslam, (2011): 1.
http://muslimvillage.com/2011/04/07/9643/an-islamic-perspective-on-sports-andexercise/