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?
