Question : A question was asked about [the validity of] playing chess.

Fatwa in Brief: It is not permitted to play chess.

Shaykh Ibn al-‘Uthaymin, Important Questions, p. 18

Response:

Chess is not haram according to Al-Shafi‘i on three conditions: that it is played without any gambling; that it does not distract a person from performing his/her prayers [or other religious obligations]; and that there is no worthless talk during the game.

Commentary:

It is not permitted to play chess if this leads to gambling, or to the drinking of alcohol, or the unveiling of one’s face, or mixing between men and women, or cursing, or if it causes a person to neglect a compulsory act of worship (wajib), or if it incurs some form of harm.

Some of the People of Knowledge are of the opinion that chess is not forbidden (haram). Thus, for instance, al-Shafi‘i observes that: “Playing it [chess] resembles that which is vain; I dislike it, but there is no clear evidence that it is forbidden”. [Echoing the view of his Imam] al-Nawawi remarks that: “according to our school of law [i.e. the Shafi‘is], chess is disliked; but it is not outlawed (haram). [In contrast to this] One group of scholars is of the opinion that chess is prohibited (haram); but, there is no hadith in support of this.[1]

If there is no text from Islamic law (Shari‘ah) to clearly show that something is forbidden (haram), then it is permitted. Indeed, as long as this subject is not harmful, and is not used for that which causes harm, then it may not be forbidden. Something is only prohibited when there exists a specific reason – when, for instance, a person neglects something that God made obligatory for him/her and his/her family.[2]

Do the carved figures [i.e. the chess pieces] that are used during chess make this game haram? The answer to this is they are not carved from rock [for from wood], and they do not have complete bodies. The features of the pieces are not clear and neither are [the contours of] their bodies. Hence, these figures are merely parts, rather than complete entities; and, even if they were complete entities, they would still not be prohibited.[3]

Like any other form of entertainment, chess may distract a person from remembering God [and herein lies the danger]. Some of these forms of entertainment are prohibited; while others are not. Yet, they all distract the person from remembering God. The act of being distracted from something that is compulsory (wajib) is, in itself, haram. This [chess] is unlike intoxicants that turn the person away from the remembrance of God and cause him to lose his mind. It was narrated that ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn ‘Auf led the people in prayer, and read: “Say, O you who have disbelieved, I worship what you worship, I am a worshipper of what you worship”.[4] However, chess does not make the person lose his mind and does not prevent those who want to from remembering God.

In most cases playing chess does not contribute to enmity and hatred [unlike intoxicants]. Indeed, many people who play it are morally upright. Intoxicants on the other hand cause enmity and hatred because they increase [the illusion of] courage, cheerfulness, and strength, while also leading people into to violence and to wishing for revenge.

And God knows best.

Dr. Anas Abu Shadi