Chess forbidden in Islam, rules Saudi grand mufti

London : Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti Sheikh Abdullah al-Sheikh has said that playing chess is forbidden in Islam, a British newspaper reported on Thursday.

Responding to a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas (religious decrees) after listening to viewers’ questions, Sheikh said playing the board game is “haram” (forbidden) as it encourages gambling and is a waste of time, The Guardian reported.


Support TwoCircles

He claimed that the game was “included under gambling” and was “a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players”.

Al-Sheikh justified the ruling by referring to a verse in the Quran banning “intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination”.

Iraq’s Supreme Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani too had issued a decree terming the game “haram mutlaqan” (forbidden absolutely or under any circumstances), with or without betting.

The game of chess, a board game, can be traced back to an ancient version called Chatrang, popular in Persia during 600 BC.

The name “chess” is a variant of the Persian “shah” (king) that replaced the original “shatranj” and “ajedrez” and came to be modified through dialect across Europe as ‘check’ and later “chess”.

SUPPORT TWOCIRCLES HELP SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AND NON-PROFIT MEDIA. DONATE HERE