Chess ‘forbidden’ in Islam - Saudi cleric

January 22, 2016 10:54
Chess ‘forbidden’ in Islam - Saudi cleric

Chess game is forbidden in Islam, as they believe that, the game wastes time and leads to several rivalries and conflicts among the people.

The statement was made by Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al Sheikh, through a video clip, which went viral on YouTube and also Twitter, creating widespread criticism, among Arabic Twitter users.   

A few of the Twitter users mocked Shiekh, saying chess is an intelligent game and that is why conservative clerics decry it. Many other Islamic scholars have also warned that the people would get addicted to it and lose focus on god, neglecting him from praying regularly.   

Saudi Arabia’s influential religious establishment adheres to a strict Sunni Islamic ideology known widely as Wahhabism.

Speaking out a different version, Shiite Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani previously declared that chess could be used for the gambling and so is religiously prohibited in Islam.

In the 44-second clip, Al Sheikh says “the game of chess is forbidden,” backing up his statement by referring to a verse in the Quran that bans gambling, intoxicants and idolatry. Answering a question posed to him by a viewer on the Saudi religious Almajd network, the mufti says chess “wastes time and money and causes rivalry and enmity” because it makes rich people poor and poor people rich.

Despite few top religious scholars are against chess, the Saudi sheikh’s opinion is not seen as a formal edict that could lead to a ban on the game in the kingdom. Games such as backgammon and cards are popular among men in the Middle East.

Muslims, who introduced chess to Europe, have been playing the game since the 7th century in Persia.

By Phani Ch

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Chess in Islam  Chess  Islam news