Religion′s Impact on Culture

Religion has a major impact on people’s way of life and their habits and every person has a right to choose their religion. In most cases, culture influences people’s religion and beliefs. Beliefs and morals are capable of influencing people’s way of thinking and doing things. This can influence society or a nation because the religious beliefs and practices are shaped or shape the culture that surrounds them. An individual’s moral purpose is impacted by religion, beliefs, and culture.

Most diverse communities preserve their cultures and religions to their countries of origin. Research on ethnicity has been done trying to find the differences in the leisure or recreational activities and experiences of the White and the Black Americans. Sports and recreation are significant to people from culturally diverse origins and not from a certain group. This is because it helps to maintain their health and wellbeing through physical activity. Some of the cultures experience difficulties blending in because of their religions and beliefs. For example, Muslims living in the United States are prone to facing challenges of adapting to the western lifestyle which is at most times opposite to their religious beliefs and culture. Muslim women are supposed to follow Islam policies while taking part in sports and recreational activities. They are not supposed to interact in mixed gendered sports and they also should observe how they dress (Abril 2). Therefore if an institution arranges coeducational sports activities, Muslim women will not be able to participate because of the gender policies of Islam. For example, most Muslim women cover their head with a hijab. They are also supposed to wear decent clothing that covers their arms and legs. This means that a Muslim woman will not be able to be a part of recreational programs if the facilities are not adequate.

Muslim women face religious and cultural problems as they try to fit in the social and institutional structures of a more superior group. The standpoint theory helps to explain the disparities which are developed by dominant power causing social inequalities. The factors that may impact them might be cultural, gender, religion-based, ethnic, or a combination of all of them (Abril 3). Constraint negotiation helps to identify the types of limitations that are found in the lives of Muslim women. It also aids in finding ways in which these limitations can be overcome. Approaches such as replacing, coping, or avoiding an activity have been established by researchers to help individuals. Research has shown that culture and religion make Muslim women's lives difficult in sports and recreational activities.

This is evidence that sports and recreational professionals need to understand the needs and requirements of Muslim women and come up with solutions. The professionals should develop programs that are suitable for their cultural and religious policies. They should provide facilities that can accommodate the sports and recreational activities of Muslim women (Abril 9). Because sports and recreation are important to everyone, there should be no limitations that should hinder any person from participating. Therefore professionals should assist in making sure that even Muslim women have access to these activities to allow them to live a healthy and active life while adhering to their religious and cultural needs.

There have been different definitions of culture which include culture as a way of human perfection, social conceptual growth, and normal way of life. Others define culture as a complex whole that is made up of beliefs, policy, knowledge, principles, skills, and other abilities that an individual has in a society. It is also defined as any belief that one knows or has that helps them live and operate in a way that is acceptable to the members of the society. It is a way that people perceive, relates, and interpret things that they have in their mind. Muslims are very family-oriented and often care more about group needs over their individual needs and these behaviors make them collectivists by nature (Abril 12). For Muslim women, leisure time to them though important for their health and well-being is not a priority. According to a study on Muslim women, their main role is taking care of their family and the children.

According to the western point of view, the Muslim women’s primary role is viewed as a constraint in taking part in sports and recreation. However, in a study that was done to establish the impacts of religion on the participation of leisure activities, found out that this to them is not a constraint. The significance of family in the Islamic culture comes from the need to teach traditions and values to their children (Abril 13). Another study conducted on the Arabic Muslims showed that they were interested in sports and recreational activities but their cultural backgrounds hindered them from participating. Making decisions on sports and recreation activities to take part in is influenced by religion and culture.

According to Abril (14), Muslim women who are involved in sports and recreational activities traverse between Islamic beliefs along with the political and social settings of certain countries. The social class that an individual belongs to, their gender, and the time they have stayed in their host country influence an individual’s engagement in sports and recreational activities. Study shows that for some people, participating in traditional cultural sports and recreational activities have made them strengthen their cultural ties and their identity. It has also granted them the chance to interact with other people of the same culture. Taking part in sports and recreational activities are therefore influenced by a person’s socioeconomic position and their level of knowledge on the health benefits of sports. A study on physical education on gender interaction shows that female students believe that women are supposed to play sports that are appropriate for them for example dance and gymnastics. Boys and men on the other hand are supposed to play rough sports for example football, and rugby. There is a need to come up with recreational activities that meet the needs of the clients and also a system that offers and promotes equal opportunities.

Study reveals that modernist Muslims are not concerned with the mixed-gender activities and have adopted the dressing styles of the western. The traditional Muslims still maintain the significance of concealing the body from the male and taking part only in gender-segregated sports. Conservative Muslim women cannot take part in sports and recreational activities in the presence of men (Abril 20). With this, there is a need to understand the religious and cultural necessities in the sport and recreational activities.

According to history, Saudi Arabia has been deeply rooted in its traditions and religious beliefs. The culture is built on family-oriented settings and gender expectations for both men and women. The Saudi Arabian culture believes in an autonomous family setting where men are expected to financially provide for the family and the women are supposed to take care of the family and children. According to the Islamic religion, women are allowed to engage in economic affairs as long as it does not affect her primary role which is being a mother and a wife. In the Saudi Arabian culture, the first call of the women is to worship Allah and then uphold her household duties. Any other work outside the household is considered as a secondary responsibility (Maha 1). The women are expected to uphold household affairs and work within a bounded range of employment. The idea of Saudi Arabian women to join the public workforce is continued debate in the country that has lasted for many years. Recent developments in the political and economic events through the ministry of labor has come up with new opportunities for women to join the public workforce. Such developments have led to the women being allowed to access the public sphere which initially was exclusively accessed only by the male gender in the society.

 Sexually segregated practices are still practiced in the Saudi Arabian workforce making a very low percentage of women to be able to work in the labor force. This is mainly due to hindrances such as working environments that are male-dominated and social constraints of the strict Islamic law. The Saudi Arabian culture does not deny women the opportunities to work. It rather provides precise guidelines to preserve a woman’s dignity and prevent her from doing against Islamic law (Maha 2). Islamic traditions and beliefs are merged in the Saudi Arabian culture and impact almost every aspect of the society and are implemented under the sharia law.

Muslims use the Quran which consists of words that Muslims believe are from God. Saudi Arabia uses the sharia law as its guiding law for the country and does not try to change or modernize its meaning (Maha 3). Currently, Saudi law requires all women to have a male guardian who will accompany them as they perform certain tasks such as marrying and traveling among others. However, studies have shown that in recent years women can acquire lawyer licenses and are more actively participating in society. This though does not change the gender segregation in the Saudi Arabian culture which remains to be a major component in society. Because of the sharia laws on the roles of women and their dress code, women have often faced challenges in expressing their beliefs.

Freedom within the dating scene, courtship among others are prohibited in this culture (Maha 20). Anyone who wishes to get married has their marriage arranged by the elders within the family. The participant makes a choice of the person they would want to marry but the final decision is made by the parents or guardians. Polygamy is accepted in Saudi Arabia but the Islamic law asserts strict restrictions on such relationships. Islam supports women’s rights and men have an extent of rights over them. The internet has created some changes in the Saudi culture because it has given access to religious documents to women. The women are learning to use the religious language which is a language that cannot be confronted by their male associates to achieve their objectives. Saudi women are also led to study Islamic law so that they can be able to speak in the name of Islam.

Customarily, Saudi women took part in vocational areas which included the making of weapons, medicine, and craftwork. Their major responsibility that was delineated through Islam and the sharia law was to perform their duties as mothers and be keepers of the household. Even while participating in vocational duties which Islam does not prohibit the women from, the women should focus on their family role first (Maha 21). Islam however has put certain rules that women should observe when they leave home to join the workforce. One rule is to ensure that they stay reserved and should not intermingle with the opposite sex and this rule is directly from the Quran.

 Another rule for the women is to cover their entire bodies and should not reveal their bodies to men. It is also forbidden for both men and women to cross-dress using the other gender’s clothes. Women should avoid using a seductive tone when having a conversation with other people and this again is directly from the Quran. Islam inspires women to carry themselves in a manner that they will be respected and taken in high regard within the society. The other rule is the woman’s obedience to her husband more so when they want to leave the household. Islam maintains that it is required of a woman to seek permission from their husband if married. If not married, they should seek permission from their guardian before they leave the household. This rule shows that a woman is believed to remain within the household unless she is permitted to leave or in case of an emergency. Another rule that the women should observe is in the case of travels between towns (Maha 22). A woman is not allowed to travel alone and should be accompanied by a legal guide. Another person that can accompany a woman during travels is a relative that cannot be married to her or with whom intimacy would be forbidden. This is done to ensure that the woman is protected from conversations with other people along the way.

In conclusion, people’s religion defines how they perform their daily duties. It influences the activities people engage in and who they interact with. Some of the religions and beliefs make it difficult for some cultures to blend. This is mainly because of the different beliefs and practices they observe, for example in terms of dress code. Laws in some religions prohibit interaction of different genders and this hinders people from participating in certain activities. Muslim women are the most affected by the by laws in their religion because they are supposed to be conservative to be respected in the society. They are supposed to dress in a way that their body is not revealed. Muslim women face these challenges because of the gender-segregated rules. The Saudi Arabian women to face the same challenges because their roles in society have been placed according to the Quran. Some of the things are changing with time and these women are being allowed to work which was not always the norm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Alshoaibi, Maha. Identity Negotiation, Saudi Women, and the Impact of the 2011 Royal Decree:

An Investigation of the Cultural, Religious, and Societal Shifts among Women in the

Saudi Arabian Public Sphere, 2018 pp. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing

Calderon Pacheco, Abril, et al. Culture and Religion: The Sports and Recreation Experiences of  Muslim Women, 2015, pp. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses.