The Meaning of Al-Musafih, Al-Mutamsakhir, and Those Whose Testimony Is Not Accepted

The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It is stated in the books of jurisprudence: “The testimony of the boxer, the mocker, the singer, the dancer, the chess player, the backgammon player, and the pigeon player is not accepted.” What is meant by the boxer and the mocker?

The Shaykh:
The boxer, my brother, the boxer. What is meant is the boxer, which can be called a boxer now. Yes.

The questioner:
And the mocker. He says: What is meant by the boxer and the mocker? And is there a difference between them?

The Shaykh:
The mocker. Yes, because of excessive joking, because he is always joking. This indicates that he is lax, and people also look down on him, because he is always mocking, always making fun, and always diminishing in the eyes of people. Yes. So if he has descended to this level, he does not care about testimony, he does not care about testimony. Yes.

The questioner:
And what about playing with pigeons? And others? He says: The mocker, the singer, and the dancer.

The Shaykh:
And the singer is the same, because he is lax in testimony. If he is lax in the forbidden singing, he is lax in it, then he is lax in testimony. And the dancer? The dancer is known, the one who dances like women. This indicates his laxity and his descent from manliness, his imitating women. And the chess player, because chess is prohibited, and the one who plays chess is an open sinner. Chess and backgammon mean the same thing. And the pigeon player, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited playing with pigeons. This indicates his foolishness; he took up pigeon playing for play. This indicates his foolishness and the imperfection of his intellect. Yes, so he is lax in testimony. Yes.