The Ruling on Watching Football Matches and Wasting Time in Them
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
I am a young man, praise be to Allah, and I have been granted the path to goodness. However, I find myself wasting my time with football, due to my love of watching these matches; it is almost as if no match passes by without me wanting to watch it. So I ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify the ruling on this and guide me to what is good?
Answer:
I advise you to occupy yourself with what is more beneficial for you, such as studying, reviewing your lessons, keeping the company of the righteous, attending circles of knowledge, and working in what benefits you in your religion and your worldly affairs. As for attending a match, it may harm you and not benefit you. If the idea of a match distracts you from the congregational prayer, then attending it is forbidden if it occupies you from the congregational prayer at its proper time with your Muslim brothers. Likewise, if it leads to the exposure of the private parts or to various forms of evil, it is forbidden for him. As for watching only half of the match, if it does not prevent an obligatory act or cause him to fall into what is forbidden, but rather in specific times when the private parts are covered and they have not reached anything in its essence, but people have expanded in it until it led them to what is not befitting. The point is that this match, if it occupies one from the prayer in congregation, or if the exposure of private parts occurs in it, it is forbidden; because it leads to evil, to abandoning an obligatory act, or to doing what is forbidden. Many of these who compete waste the prayer, and they do not care, neither the players nor the spectators. For this reason, it has become one of the ugliest forms of evil; because it is a means to wasting the prayer. However, if they preserve it and perform it, and strive against their souls in that, then in its mere essence it is not forbidden. Yes.
I am a young man, praise be to Allah, and I have been granted the path to goodness. However, I find myself wasting my time with football, due to my love of watching these matches; it is almost as if no match passes by without me wanting to watch it. So I ask you, Honorable Shaykh, to clarify the ruling on this and guide me to what is good?
Answer:
I advise you to occupy yourself with what is more beneficial for you, such as studying, reviewing your lessons, keeping the company of the righteous, attending circles of knowledge, and working in what benefits you in your religion and your worldly affairs. As for attending a match, it may harm you and not benefit you. If the idea of a match distracts you from the congregational prayer, then attending it is forbidden if it occupies you from the congregational prayer at its proper time with your Muslim brothers. Likewise, if it leads to the exposure of the private parts or to various forms of evil, it is forbidden for him. As for watching only half of the match, if it does not prevent an obligatory act or cause him to fall into what is forbidden, but rather in specific times when the private parts are covered and they have not reached anything in its essence, but people have expanded in it until it led them to what is not befitting. The point is that this match, if it occupies one from the prayer in congregation, or if the exposure of private parts occurs in it, it is forbidden; because it leads to evil, to abandoning an obligatory act, or to doing what is forbidden. Many of these who compete waste the prayer, and they do not care, neither the players nor the spectators. For this reason, it has become one of the ugliest forms of evil; because it is a means to wasting the prayer. However, if they preserve it and perform it, and strive against their souls in that, then in its mere essence it is not forbidden. Yes.
Source
أخلاق المؤمنين والمؤمنات — islamhouse.com (1:16:49)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.