Chess forbidden in Islam, says Saudi grand mufti

Sheikh Abdulaziz al Sheikh says it encourages gambling, causes for hatred and is a waste of time

The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia has decreed that chess is forbidden in Islam, likening it with gambling and calling it a waste of time.

The grand mufti was answering a question on a television show where he delivers fatwa (Islamic decree) in response to viewers’ queries relating to religious matters.

Besides likening the game with gambling and terming it a waste of time, Aziz said it was “a cause for hatred and enmity between players.”

To substantiate his point, Aziz referred to a verse of the Quran, which commands banning “intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination.”

In Iran in 1988, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered to lift a ban on chess, saying there was no harm in the game if it was not being played as means of gambling.



Muslim scholars tend to object on playing the game if it distracts from five daily prayers, whereas betting is completely forbidden.

Reacting on the move, British chess grandmaster Nigel Short told the BBC that forbidding chess would be a “great tragedy”.

“I don’t consider chess to be a threat to society. It is not something that is so depraved as to corrupt morals,” he said, adding “even Ayatollah Khomeini came to the conclusion that he’d gone too far and repealed his own ban.”

However, since the Saudi grand mufti issued the ruling while responding to a specific query, it was probably directed as an advisory opinion rather than a formal edict.

The article originally appeared on The Guardian