During the 19th century when Muslim world was passing through a period of significant political & social upheaval, the French forces had landed in Algeria, and British had captured Delhi and curtains were drawn on the great Mughal empire in 1857.

In those days leading writer Clifford Putney wrote an interesting and thought-provoking book “Muscular Christianity- Manhood & Sports in Protestant America, 1880-1920” in which the author provides a much needed overview of Muscular Christianity and its appeal during the progressive era. This ideology made profound impact on development of athletics and sports in 19th & 20th centuries, including the Young Men Christian Association (YMCA), the Olympic Games and Collegiate Sports.

The concept gained further popularity and focus with the work of Thomas Hughes when he wrote “Tom Brown’s School Days” in 1857 based on the experience of an education reformist Thomas Arnold working at a Rugby school in USA.

The movement of Muscular Christianity was never officially organised or headed by a single figure, but instead was a cultural trend that manifested itself in different ways and supported by various personalities.

Sports thus provided a platform to evangelised the “unchurched”. A.O. Jay a high church clergyman in 1894 said, “The boxing gloves are more useful, although considerably neglected weapons in the armory of church”. Jay worked in the poorest part of East London and decided to build an athletic club, which included a boxing ring, right above his church building.

The club was open every night and the Father would station himself by the door, taking memberships and shaking the hands of the young men who came in. Not only the ring remained filled with young competitors, but the brawlers also frequently found their way into the church’s pews, with services regularly attracting as many as 400 to 500 men.

Jay also reported that participants in the club became less prone to ill intended violence, which was a common problem of west at that time.

The largest faith based leap was, however, taken by YMCA, that took the lead in 1869 and sponsored its first Y (young) gymnasium that later proved extremely effective in propagating Christianity among the youth.

In addition to gyms, YMCA played a pivotal role in promoting indoor sports like basketball, volleyball, biking and rowing. Young men & women flocked to these recreational hubs.

However the Muslim societies remained confused on the subject for a very long period. There are critical barriers and failures when it comes to engaging Muslim youth and communities in sport, poor engagement strategies, lack of vision, unavailability of trained human resource, taboos around Islamic dress codes and above all lack of political will and priority of the ruling class, that only remains skin deep.

Islamic faith is filled with examples from the highest sources relating to participation in sports and physical activities. According to Sahi Muslim Hadis number 2664, the Holley Prophet Muhammad (May peace be upon him) said that a physically stout Momin is better than a weak Momin. Almighty Allah in Surat Balad, verse number 04, reminds the human beings, that they are born to struggle and should not seek the easy way out, because Allah has created human beings to strive hard, and prepare themselves in all respect to face the challenges of life.

In order to search for a model in Islamic culture, where sports are used as a hook to engage the youth with mosque, I carried out an extensive research and was pretty disappointed not to find any such model, before I found out that Masjid Rehmat Ulil Almeen located in sector F-8 besides regular Islamic teaching and its rituals, has 28 different departments, and the mosque is very effectively using sports as a hook to attract young kids from surrounding posh locality.

This successful model where the mosque in its true sense is utilised for community service is headed by Dr Ubaid Ur Rehman Basheer and his committed team. Mr Murad Sajid told me that more than 50 young boys and girls regularly participate in innovative sports programmes like “Masjid Kids Club”, Fajar & Asar games and a self-defense club organized at the roof top of the mosque is very popular amongst the girls.

I also found out that a mosque by the name of Cheadle mosque in Manchester (UK) which was established in 2004 is also effectively using sports to mitigate the social inequalities and barriers faced by the Muslim community in terms of equal access and participation in sports, which was further exacerbated by COVID 19.

The mosque besides formal teaching of Quran and Fiqah has also started with programs like “Sister’s Football” and “Golf Lessons” for young children age 06 to 14 years.

The approach is relatively more practiced in the mosques of USA where enlightened religious scholars are using sports to engage with educated Muslim youth and their families who are disengaged from religion and sports due to easy life style.

Islamic Games is an organisation in North America that focuses on community engagement to inspire healthy life style and access to sports. Muslim Youth Basketball clinic is also regularly organised in Portland, USA under Muslim Educational Trust where “Islamic Life Lessons” are imparted through basketball.

The Muslim youth worldwide are facing multiple social and cultural challenges, that need to be addressed through innovative means, including the use of sports and games, which will not only help them learn the Islamic values, but if designed professionally, the programme can help a great deal in developing the much needed motor and life skills among the youth.

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