Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has ruled that chess is forbidden in Islam, saying it encourages gambling and is a waste of time.
Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh was answering a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas in response to viewers’ queries on everyday religious matters.
He said chess was “included under gambling” and was “a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players”.
Sheikh justified the ruling by referring to the verse in the Qur’an banning “intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination”. It is not clear when the fatwa was delivered.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s supreme Shia religious authority, has previously issued rulings forbidding chess.
42 comments
"Grand Mufti"
Not Grand Wizard?
Chess a waste of money? Yeah, it's such an expensive game...
@Swede
So Islamic fundies consider chess to encourage gambling?
Funny, wasn't it Muslims who brought card games over to Europe through the Mamluk Empire?
And justifying banning chess because the Qu'ran bans “intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination” is laughable, considering what developed out of the Mamluk deck. (hint: The Tarot).
Well, laughable and rather pathetic.
Is that anything like a Grand Moff?
He's just pissy because playing chess requires a mix of skill & strategy, & he possesses neither.
Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has ruled that chess is forbidden in Islam
Somebody's taking "One Night in Bangkok" too seriously. (For those who don't know, the song is about a chess match.)
Fundies are so predictable: if it ain't about god, it's a sin.
If those things are true of chess then they're true of every competitive game ever made. Of course, these guys probably want to ban those too.
This story reminds me of the Nuganites from Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment, but at least those stupid commandments came from a mad god, these ones are coming from actual people.
Why forbid chess? You don't actually have to play in the Superbowl to bet on it. Why not just forbid gambling?
Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti ...
Like the Imperial Wizard, except a different religion.
The more you try to micromanage everybody's lives, al-Sheikh, the faster they'll slip through your fingers.
It's kind of odd that it took over 1300 years for somebody to get around to this.
IIRC, chess was quite popular pretty much everywhere - including Muslim majority areas - in the Middle Ages.
Source: I need to re-read Birth of the Chess Queen
It's only gambling if you place bets. Otherwise it's a time honored game of wits and strategy meant to hone the mind and subtly psychoanalyze the players. Just because you kept losing your lunch money to the smart kids doesn't mean everyone is a bitter, spiteful loser and an even worse winner now that you've got a country jumping on command.
Well, in his defense, there is no such thing as intellectual stimulation or enjoyment in Islam. Muslims are prohibited from it by their own religion, with the notable exceptions of rape and martyrdom.
So at least he's actually following what he preaches, no matter how fucking retarded it is.
Chess can be used as part of military strategy training.
Guess that's why the US are the only superpower these days; Soviet Russia once generated so many Grandmasters.
I bet China encourages Chess in it's schools, colleges & universities; stimulating the intellect , and all that jazz.
I bet there's hardly a park in Israel where you wouldn't see people on the tables there with boards & pieces. Wouldn't surprise me if some of them also advised Israel's chess clubs - particularly in schools - giving everyone their experience. PROTIP: National Service in their IDF is compulsory ; I refer you to officer training in the US, and one of the basics of strategy.
Why haven't you invaded Israel, Sheikh Yer Booty? I bet you daren't answer that question. Checkmate.
Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti has ruled that chess is forbidden in Islam, saying it encourages gambling and is a waste of time.
But camel racing is still A-OK!
@Kanna:
chess is not to be taken lightly as a contact sport.
Well, there is chess-boxing. No, I am not making this up.
It seems to have started already. Most articles about this say that Saudi chess players are largely ignoring it and some even openly defy the Mufti on social media.
@Kuno
Well, there is chess-boxing. No, I am not making this up.
The first I ever heard of it, I was sure it had to be a joke. But after reading a bit more about it, no, it's not a joke but a real sport. One round of boxing, one game of chess, followed by another round of boxing, and more chess, etc.
Well, I was a bit sarcastic, M. Neomatrix.
In fact, wat realy amaze me is the fact hat when the abyss of idiocy is hit, fundie still manage to drill deeper into it.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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