The Ruling on Playing Cards and Similar Games and Competitions
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, he says: What is the ruling on playing cards, yuko, and al-zalimah at times other than prayer, except during free time with children and others?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible. This is from that which distracts from the remembrance of Allah the Exalted, trains people in these games, and raises children on them. So it is not permissible because it leads to heedlessness regarding the remembrance of Allah. And if it involves money and competitions, it is forbidden. This is gambling (maysir). It is not permissible to take money for competitions except in the things that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded, which are the three:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1700Hasan (Darussalam), the tools of jihad only. The arrow is the shooting, the shoe refers to the horse, the racing of camels refers to the camels, and the hoof refers to the horse. So these three competitions are permissible to wager on because they are means of jihad and training for jihad.
As for anything other than these, such as bets and competitions, it is not permissible to take compensation for them, because they are from gambling.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim includes competitions on memorizing the Qur'an and on questions of knowledge among the three that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded. He says: Because seeking knowledge is part of jihad, so it falls under jihad. A competition on questions of knowledge and on memorizing the Qur'an, there is no harm in it because it is jihad in the path of Allah. Seeking knowledge is part of jihad.
And as for anything other than this, it is gambling and it is betting, so it is not permissible to take compensation for these competitions and bets. And if they are free of compensation, they distract from the remembrance of Allah, they occupy people and raise children on them. Is it not permissible to do this? It reveals its name.
The questioner:
Even the one who takes a card, let it be.
The Shaykh:
The witan is currently under preparation for a fatwa on it, and if Allah wills, it will be issued soon. Yes.
The questioner:
Good.
The Shaykh:
Yes, yes, yes, yes, it is with cumin, yes, the yuko or the cumin, yes,
The questioner:
I ask Allah for you. Honorable Shaykh, he says: A group of young men went to the desert for a picnic, and the time for the Fajr prayer arrived,
The Shaykh:
Because they say that in the schools, the balcony is used in the schools by the students. Yes. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, he says: What is the ruling on playing cards, yuko, and al-zalimah at times other than prayer, except during free time with children and others?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible. This is from that which distracts from the remembrance of Allah the Exalted, trains people in these games, and raises children on them. So it is not permissible because it leads to heedlessness regarding the remembrance of Allah. And if it involves money and competitions, it is forbidden. This is gambling (maysir). It is not permissible to take money for competitions except in the things that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded, which are the three:
No stake is acceptable except in archery, racing a camel, and racing a horse.
لا سبق إلا في نصل أو خف أو حافرAs for anything other than these, such as bets and competitions, it is not permissible to take compensation for them, because they are from gambling.
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim includes competitions on memorizing the Qur'an and on questions of knowledge among the three that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded. He says: Because seeking knowledge is part of jihad, so it falls under jihad. A competition on questions of knowledge and on memorizing the Qur'an, there is no harm in it because it is jihad in the path of Allah. Seeking knowledge is part of jihad.
And as for anything other than this, it is gambling and it is betting, so it is not permissible to take compensation for these competitions and bets. And if they are free of compensation, they distract from the remembrance of Allah, they occupy people and raise children on them. Is it not permissible to do this? It reveals its name.
The questioner:
Even the one who takes a card, let it be.
The Shaykh:
The witan is currently under preparation for a fatwa on it, and if Allah wills, it will be issued soon. Yes.
The questioner:
Good.
The Shaykh:
Yes, yes, yes, yes, it is with cumin, yes, the yuko or the cumin, yes,
The questioner:
I ask Allah for you. Honorable Shaykh, he says: A group of young men went to the desert for a picnic, and the time for the Fajr prayer arrived,
The Shaykh:
Because they say that in the schools, the balcony is used in the schools by the students. Yes. Yes.
Source
شرح الكافية الشافية في الانتصار للفرقة الناجية [ القصيدة النونية ] [ صالح الفوزان ]، فصل : في رغبة قائلها إلى من يقف عليها من أهل العلم والإيمان أن يتجرد إلى الله ويحكم عليها بما يوجبه الدليل والبرهان — islamhouse.com (1:03:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.