What is the ruling on playing football, backgammon, and chess? And what is the ruling on image-making?

The Shaykh : A questioner asked recently about a matter with which most Muslims in all lands of Islam have been afflicted, and he wished to know the ruling of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in it; namely, playing football. It has become the passion of every young man who grows up in a society that has some of what is called today civilization. My answer to that is as follows: Playing with a ball does not differ from any other game a Muslim engages in; it falls under the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) mentioned these games and pastimes that people used to amuse themselves with at that time, and he excluded them from vain amusement. We must pay attention here, on the occasion of this hadith, to two things:
The first is that the hadith—as you heard—is worded: , and not worded as forbidden.
The second thing is that if we pay attention to this difference, we then know that there is also a jurisprudential difference. If the hadith was only worded: , it does not mean it is in the sense of forbidden; because the vain is most akin in meaning to idle talk, whereas the forbidden is an explicit ruling regarding the obligation to stay away from it.
Once we know that, we can then say: Any amusement a person engages in at any time and place is vain idle talk with no reward; provided it escapes sin. Sin may come from the type of game one plays, or from what surrounds the type of game one plays. Let us give two examples; the matter, as He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: , or do they remember? The two examples are playing backgammon and playing chess:
Playing backgammon is prohibited by explicit text and in itself. It has come and is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: . The other text is: . Therefore, it is not permissible to play backgammon in itself because of this severe warning: . It is known to everyone that pork and its blood are ritually impure in a specific impurity; therefore, it is not permissible to play this type of amusement. This is the first example.
As for the second example—as I mentioned earlier—playing chess. There is no authentic hadith prohibiting playing chess. Since that is the case, what is its ruling? We cannot say it is forbidden because no text has come regarding it. We cannot say it is absolutely permissible because it falls under the first hadith, which is: , known by the name of its narrator, Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari. This hadith of Jabir contains this generality that all play is vain. From that, playing chess is vain. This vain matter must be looked at in relation to what may surround it of evil that elevates it and places it in the rank of forbidden things, or that elevates it to the rank of permissible things. If playing chess—as is the reality today—contains some statues, such as the elephant, the horse, and the king, and I do not play it, but according to what I read and hear, I remember these things from it. There is no doubt among you all—if Allah wills—that if some opinions contrary to the correct Sunnah have not crept into you, that the forbidden images are only those that harm in morals, and there is nothing in such idols that harms in creed. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—as they claim!—prohibited image-making and possessing it with a temporary prohibition, from the perspective of blocking the means to harm, before tawhid (the oneness of Allah) became established in the hearts of his Companions. When the doubt was removed from their hearts and tawhid became established in their souls, this legal ruling was negated; namely, the strict prohibition of image-making and possessing images. This is a doubt we have often heard from some who have not specialized in religion. I do not want to lengthen this matter now; it is sufficient for me to mention that image-making in all its types—whether drawn with a pen, a brush, paint, embroidery, or any modern machine today—and there are many of them—as long as there is something that can linguistically be called an image-maker and an image, it is not permissible to make it, and consequently it is not permissible to possess it; because all those types fall under the generality of these mentioned hadiths. For example, his warning (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding image-making: , and his prohibition (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding possessing any image, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): .
Since that is the case, it is not permissible to play chess as long as these statues are apparent in it. And then—if playing chess is absolutely necessary—one must eliminate these statues. After that, a second condition comes: that the player of chess does not become a slave to it, diverting him from his true servitude to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He); diverting him from performing the obligatory duties upon him. It is not just the five prayers—for example—with the congregation. That is, it is not sufficient for us to say that the prohibited aspect of playing chess is only that it does not distract him from performing the obligations and the five prayers with the congregation. Rather, we must combine with that that this play does not divert him from every obligation that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) has made obligatory upon him, such as—for example—performing his duty toward his family, toward his children, toward his brothers in general. If the playing of chess is free from this type of sins—and I do not say if it is free, but if it is free—we say at that time it is permissible, holding to the presumption of original permissibility; because the original ruling for things is permissibility unless a text comes that compels us to move from it to what the transmitter included of a ruling, either prohibition or dislike. These are two examples of the examples with which people have been afflicted by amusement and wasting time on them. One is directly prohibited and it is not permissible to engage in it absolutely; namely, backgammon. And one in which a specific prohibition has not been authenticated; namely, chess. The ruling in it must be managed according to what surrounds it of cautions. If it is free from any of that, it is permissible to play it for the sake of recreation for the soul, and nothing else, as it is said.
Once we know the ruling of these two examples, we enter into the answer to the question, which is playing with a ball?
There is no doubt that playing with a ball is the affair of all games, or the affair of all games known today, except for a few of them whose origin is foreign. Backgammon is named Nardshir from Persia, and chess, its origin, I think, is perhaps from China or other countries.
The Shaykh : Likewise, football is a game and a modern innovation that came to us from European countries. If Muslims wish to play it, the first thing that is obligatory is that they intend to strengthen their bodies in preparation for what is obligatory upon them to face in the near or distant future when confronting the enemies of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Therefore, in this state, their bodies must be firm and strong, standing firm before the mighty enemies of Allah. It was reported in an authentic hadith from his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): The believer, even if he is weak in his faith, is not devoid of good that may save him from eternal abode in the punishment on the Day when it is said to Hell: and it will say: . If strength is desirable for the Muslim, then there is no objection—indeed, it may be recommended—that the Muslim engage in this play with this righteous intention. It was also reported in "Sahih" his saying (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in explaining the noble verse: He said (peace be upon him): . Therefore, playing with shooting, whether old with the bow or new with bullets, projectiles, or similar destructive weapons today, is among the means that the Muslim must engage in to strengthen his body. This may require leaving the town so that some Muslims are not accidentally harmed by the shooting. As for this game—the game of ball—there is nothing to be feared from it except what we mentioned earlier regarding what the player may be exposed to in chess. The permissibility must be restricted by those conditions. It is observed that most games, let us say, especially matches held between two teams, even if they are Muslims, do not observe the limits of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). Some prayers may be missed by the players, such as the 'Asr prayer if the match starts before 'Asr, or the Maghrib prayer if the match starts after the 'Asr prayer and before the Maghrib prayer. This is a condition covered by the previous discussion. There is another matter related to this game and its like, such as basketball; the custom of the disbelievers, since they are the ones who invented this game, is that they wear a special short garment that does not cover the 'awrah that is obligatory to cover by the Shari'ah. This garment exposes the thigh, and the thigh, as it is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: . It is not permissible for the players, even if they are just training, let alone if they are competing with others, to wear this short garment which is called in the language of the Shari'ah, the Arabic language, "al-tubban." Al-tubban is the trousers that have no sleeves, and it is called in some countries in the foreign language "shorts." I do not know what you call it?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : Ah, is that so? Perhaps it is an English word. Ah, its Arabic name—remember this—because it is part of Islam that we replace what is better with what is lower; that we replace the foreign word with the Arabic word; that we abolish the foreign word and put the Arabic word in its place; because it is the language of the Noble Qur'an.
So this garment, al-tubban, is not permissible for a Muslim to wear in front of anyone except his wife only. Therefore, the one who plays this game in the sight of some people, that is forbidden, not for its own sake, but for the unlawful clothing that surrounds it. So for this game specifically, we have that it must not distract, like chess, from some of the obligatory religious duties, especially prayer. Second, the clothing must be Shari'ah-compliant and covering the 'awrah. And third, the play—what is called today by a name that does not fit its reality!—must be with sportsmanship. I say: a name that does not fit its reality, because often fighting and beating occur between the competing Muslims, let alone the disbelievers. In the West, huge problems occur where people are killed, and they claim that the purpose of these games is to develop sportsmanship. The intended meaning, of course, is that a person does not hold a grudge if he feels that his opponent will overcome him or has actually overcome him. The Muslim does not hold a grudge and does not envy. So it should not be that this game becomes a tool for corrupting morals. In that case, even if the previous conditions or the two conditions are met in terms of not being a cause for missing prayers or exposing the 'awrah, if we assume that this game is free from these two phenomena that contradict the Shari'ah, but it develops and strengthens in the hearts of the players a spirit of revenge, grudge, and overcoming the opponent by falsehood, then this matter is among the causes that necessitate preventing the engagement in this game.
So the original ruling—let me summarize what has preceded—the original ruling in amusements that people play with—except for the four characteristics mentioned in the hadith of Jabir—is that they are invalid, vain, and of no value, and it is not befitting for a Muslim to waste his time on them; except if the intention is good, and at the least, the purpose is to relax the soul, while observing the conditions mentioned previously.
This is what is available to me as an answer to that question which was directed to me in the recent session.