One of my biggest passions is watching and following sports so I decided to see what kind of relationship Islam has with sports. I found out through reading online that there has been a wide debate over whether Muslims should be allowed to play sports in the eyes of Islamic law. The way that some sports fans, like myself, obsess over teams and athletes can be a conflicting concept for strict Muslims according to uhmmasports.net. The site says that be a sports fanatic could be “distracting to what should be one’s purpose of submitting to the will of Allah” and that “many sports fans become so obsessive that it distracts their focus and brings out the worst in them.” Although I view sports as a deep escape from daily life, this idea does seem to make a lot of sense. Athletes are often seen as “god-like” and that could take away from the “true purpose” that is described in the Quran.
But that also conflicts with the idea that Allah wants people to have sound bodies to go with sound minds and sound morals. The site says that a Muslim who is in shape is better equipped to perform the duties of Islam.” From what I’ve read these to ideas have clashed and led to widespread debate.