Is chess haram

[Guest Hameed]

I found myself very fond of the game of chess as a kid practicing honing my skills it was a good hobby I had for a while until my dad informed me that chess is forbidden in our relegion which got me really confused chess is in no means a gambling game nor has it ever been used for that and it keeps your mind in check and helps you relax why is it forbidden then? I also heard that chess was used by Yazid after the battle of Karbala which to me sounded like nonsense why should we forbid something just because a certain person we despise did it? The other argument I've seen was that chess is a waste of time and can stop you from praying the 5 daily prayers with that being said doesn't that logic apply to everything entertainment wise? We shouldn't forbid chess for these weird reasons I know that chess is practiced normally in Iran but why is it haram in Our Sistani Sect?

[Ashvazdanghe]

8 hours ago, Guest Hameed said:

haram in Our Sistani Sect?

Salam at first it's not a sect which in similar fashion he is not leader of this so called imaginary "Sistani sect" whichin opposition  he is a highly revered Marja .

 

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Marjaʿ (Arabic: المرجع; lit. authority to which one refers) is a jurist and religious scholar whose edicts (fatwas) about jurisprudential issues are followed and acted upon by a group of Shi'a and to whom his followers give their religious taxes and fines.

A follower of a marja' is called his "muqallids" (who adopts marja's edicts).

https://en.wikishia.net/view/Marja'

Sunni (Wahabi) viewpoint

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Saudi grand mufti says playing chess is forbidden in Islam

https://www.dawn.com/news/1234451

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/21/chess-forbidden-in-islam-rules-saudi-arabia-grand-mufti

https://halalguidance.com/is-chess-haram-in-islam/

9 hours ago, Guest Hameed said:

I know that chess is practiced normally in Iran but why is it haram

A.U. Seyid Sistani (may Allah prolong his life) says that it is absolutely haram.
As for A.U. Seyid Khamenei (may Allah prolong his life), he says if it is commonly seen in the custom of people ('urf) as a gambling instrument, then it is haram, and if not, then it is halal.

https://www.al-islam.org/ask/topics/4365/questions-about-Chess

 

8 hours ago, Guest Hameed said:

chess is forbidden in our relegion which got me really confused chess is in no means a gambling game nor has it ever been used for that and it keeps your mind in check and helps you relax why is it forbidden then?

 

9 hours ago, Guest Hameed said:

The other argument I've seen was that chess is a waste of time and can stop you from praying the 5 daily prayers with that being said doesn't that logic apply to everything entertainment wise?

Besides inviting punishment in the hereafter, gambling results in some of the following losses in the world:

1. Time spent indulging in sins.
2. Causes enmity.
3. Leads to hatred and malice.
4. Keeps one away from Allah’s remembrance.
5. Distances from prayer.
6. Disobedience of Allah and obedience to Satan.
7. Wealth is squandered.
8. Children are spoilt.
9. Homes are ruined.
10. Results in nervous disorders.
11. Continuous tension.
12. Spoils temperament and behavior.
13. Causes frustration, sometimes resulting in suicide.

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Question & Answer » Chess & Backgammon

 

1 Question: What is the ruling on playing backgammon / chess by using the customary pieces, without any betting (gambling)?

Answer: Playing it (backgammon / chess) is absolutely forbidden even without placing a bet.

 

2 Question: My friend who lives in another country an I would like to play backgammon / chess online?

Answer: It is absolutely forbidden, even playing it with another person online.

 

3 Question: What is the ruling on playing backgammon / chess, without betting, on my own with the computer, smart phone device (i.e. against no other person, but the game)?

Answer: Playing it (backgammon / chess) in such circumstance is forbidden (obligatory precaution)

 

4 Question: Is playing chess and backgammon, without betting, permissible?

Answer: It is absolutlely not permissible to play both.

https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01161/

 

8 hours ago, Guest Hameed said:

that being said doesn't that logic apply to everything entertainment wise?

In today’s so-called advanced age, gambling and playing cards are common. People are very comfortable with these two pastimes, especially while travelling in trains and buses. Some play, while others watch intently. The Holy Quran declares:
"They ask you about intoxicants and games of chance. Say: In both of them there is a great sin and means of profit for men, and their sin is greater than their profit."
(Surah Baqarah: 219)
Moreover, it was revealed:
"The Satan only desires to cause enmity and hatred to spring in your midst by means of intoxicants and games of chance, and to keep you off from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will you then desist?"
(Surah Maidah: 91)
The verse that follows deals a great psychological blow:
"And obey Allah and His Apostle and be cautious; but if you turn back, then know that only a clear deliverance of the message is (incumbent) on our apostle."
(Surah Maidah: 92)

 

It is prohibited to use those things which are used as a mode for gambling and which in normal circumstances are considered as a means of gambling, regardless of whether there is any bet on the game. Not only playing them is forbidden but even looking at such things is not permissible.
Imam Sadiq ((عليه السلام)) warns:
"Playing chess is polytheism, holding a chess pawn is like touching pork … looking at it is as hateful and forbidden as looking at the private parts of one’s mother!!!’
(Wasaael-us-Shiah, ‘The Book on Trading’)

9 hours ago, Guest Hameed said:

I also heard that chess was used by Yazid after the battle of Karbala which to me sounded like nonsense why should we forbid something just because a certain person we despise did it?

Fazl bin Shazan narrates from Imam Reza ((عليه السلام)):
"When the holy head of Imam Husain ((عليه السلام)) was being taken from Syria, the accursed Yazid ordered to prepare the table for food. He was engrossed in eating and drinking wine with his cronies and ordered that Imam’s ((عليه السلام)) head should be placed on the floor. Then he got engrossed in playing chess. He used to remember the ancestors of Imam Husain ((عليه السلام)) and mocked at them. Whenever he would win the game he would drink three glasses of wine, and spill the leftovers near the tray. Therefore, one who is our Shia, it is compulsory for him to keep away from drinking wine and playing chess. And whenever he sees any of these two things, he should remember Imam Hussain ((عليه السلام)) and curse Yazid and his progeny. If he dies, Allah will forgive his sins."
(Oyoono Akhbar al-Reza, p. 93)

Source: Al Muntazar

https://www.sibtayn.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7623:gambling-and-chess&catid=854:ethics&Itemid=68

 

[Abu_Zahra]

There are different opinions. Many ulama do consider it forbidden due to a narration that specifically states so, but some scholars have said that this was only referring to playing chess as part of gambling and doesn't refer to playing it as a hobby or sport  

[kadhim]

27 minutes ago, Abu_Zahra said:

There are different opinions. Many ulama do consider it forbidden due to a narration that specifically states so, but some scholars have said that this was only referring to playing chess as part of gambling and doesn't refer to playing it as a hobby or sport  

Gasp! Do those scholars have an explicit text that says the texts on chess were only referring to playing chess as part of gambling? 

;) :P