Muscular Islam is a sometimes used term to describe the push for physical fitness amongst

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

History

Pre-colonial era

Furusiyya ' (Arabic: فروسية; also romanization of Arabic, transliterated as , knighthood) is an Arabic knightly discipline and ethical code developed in the Middle Ages. It was practised in the medieval Muslim world from Afghanistan to Al-Andalus, ...

, an ancient equestrian practice in the

Muslim world The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...

, is argued by

Birgit Krawietz Birgit Krawietz is professor of Islamic Studies at the Institut für Islamwissenschaft at the Freie Universität Berlin. Biography Birgit Krawietz is professor of Islamic Studies. She earned her PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Freib ...

to have been an early form of muscular Islam, with Turkish heritage wrestling being a modern-day extant furusiyya practice and major aspect of muscular Islam as practiced in Turkey.

Colonial era

In Algeria and the Middle East, muscular Islam was promoted as a way of encouraging physical fitness, masculinity, and strength to execute anti-colonial resistance, as well as helping in nation-building and the encouragement of patriotism throughout the region.

Post-colonial era

With-chukhe wrestling championship of Iran - Tehran 1

In Indonesia, muscular Islam and the need for a return to Islamic values by any means necessary, including

jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...

, was promoted by

Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosoewirjo Soekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo (7 January 1905 – 5 September 1962) was an Indonesian Islamic mystic who led the Darul Islam rebellion against the Indonesian government from 1949 to 1962, intending to overthrow the secular Pancasila ide ...

, who led revolts against the national government as Imam of Darul Islam in the early post-colonial era. In Iran, muscular Islam was the dominant state philosophy towards sporting activities in the 1980s and 90s, with

traditional sports Traditional sports and games (often abbreviated TSG) are physical activities which were played for centuries by people around the world prehistory, even before the civilization started, before the Globalization of sports, advent of modern Weste ...

such as

pahlevani and zoorkhaneh rituals Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the name inscribed by UNESCO for Warzesh-e pahlavāni (, "heroic sport") or Warzeŝe Bāstāni (; , "ancient sport"), a traditional system of athletics and a form of martial arts originally used to train wa ...

taking center stage, and activities such as

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

being banned because of their alleged association with gambling.

Within various communities

Muslim diaspora in the West

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

has been used by the South Asian Muslim-Americans to encourage manliness.

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

has been theorized to have been played by the Muslim diaspora in Britain as a way to fight

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the irrational fear of, hostility towards, or hatred against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general. Islamophobia is primarily a form of religious or cultural bigotry; and people who harbour such sentiments often stereot ...

References

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