London 2012 Olympic Games: Challenges Faced by Islamic Olympians Fasting for Ramadan

Abstract

Fasting is a common practice among many religions in the world. In the ancient religions, fasting was observed as common religious practice associated with many religious festivals. Fasting was also observed in the Judaism and Christianity as part of the religious belief. Therefore, Islam has also prescribed fasting for Muslim in the form of a-month long period of obligatory acts of worship. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, during which they observed the fasting among daylight hours. The paper has explored significance of Ramadan and impact it had on Muslim athletes during the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Olympic Games were scheduled during the month of Ramadan and the impact of the Olympic Games on Muslim athletes, visitors, and viewers was described, because main Olympic events were scheduled during the breaking of the fast. This paper presents the findings of the primary research undertaken to assess the views and opinions of both the Islamic religion and other religions, concerning the impact of religious festivals on the Olympic Games. The results concluded that most of the people have no idea that there could be an impact of religious festivals on the Olympic Games.