And the ruling on playing dice, chess, and shedah.
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The Shaykh : As for playing chess, and what else?
The questioner : Shedah.
The Shaykh : And shedah and dice and the like. As for dice, there are authentic hadiths that forbid playing with dice. As for chess, there are some hadiths, but they are not authentic. However, this does not mean that any game without a specific hadith is permissible; rather, its ruling is derived from the legal principles in the Book and the Sunnah that jurists know. For example, shedah. Shedah is a foreign, Western game that was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so it is very natural that there is no hadith about it. So what is the ruling on playing shedah? We say it is the same ruling as applies to chess, and this requires some detail.
First, regarding chess, one should not play with it while it contains the idols, meaning the pieces called the king and the horse, and I do not know what else. If these are changed and replaced, and the second condition is that it is not made a habit such that one becomes addicted to playing chess, then without doubt its ruling would be like that of intoxicants in that it distracts from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Therefore, it is not permissible to play chess for its own sake, but rather because of the two matters mentioned above. It contains images that must be removed. If they are removed and one plays with it occasionally, without making it a constant pursuit, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not.
The Shaykh: Likewise, shedah is exactly similar to chess. It has images, it has the image of a girl and a priest, and I do not know if there is anything else.
The questioner : A boy.
The Shaykh : A boy, yes. So if you change it, erase these idols and images, and play with it at times to relieve boredom, but not to kill time or waste time, because as it is said about time, "Time is like a sword; if you do not cut it, it will cut you."
The Shaykh: This is the first point. Second, that playing shedah should not be done in the manner of dice, meaning in the manner of a lottery. In that case, it is included with dice, which are explicitly forbidden.
The questioner : That is how shedah is, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No, it is not necessary. There are some games based on memory.
The questioner : As for nardshir, I read in the Lisan al-Arab dictionary that its definition is dice and chess.
The Shaykh : No, no, you are mistaken. Chess is one thing and dice are another.
The questioner : Shedah.
The Shaykh : And shedah and dice and the like. As for dice, there are authentic hadiths that forbid playing with dice. As for chess, there are some hadiths, but they are not authentic. However, this does not mean that any game without a specific hadith is permissible; rather, its ruling is derived from the legal principles in the Book and the Sunnah that jurists know. For example, shedah. Shedah is a foreign, Western game that was not known in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so it is very natural that there is no hadith about it. So what is the ruling on playing shedah? We say it is the same ruling as applies to chess, and this requires some detail.
First, regarding chess, one should not play with it while it contains the idols, meaning the pieces called the king and the horse, and I do not know what else. If these are changed and replaced, and the second condition is that it is not made a habit such that one becomes addicted to playing chess, then without doubt its ruling would be like that of intoxicants in that it distracts from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Therefore, it is not permissible to play chess for its own sake, but rather because of the two matters mentioned above. It contains images that must be removed. If they are removed and one plays with it occasionally, without making it a constant pursuit, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not.
The Shaykh: Likewise, shedah is exactly similar to chess. It has images, it has the image of a girl and a priest, and I do not know if there is anything else.
The questioner : A boy.
The Shaykh : A boy, yes. So if you change it, erase these idols and images, and play with it at times to relieve boredom, but not to kill time or waste time, because as it is said about time, "Time is like a sword; if you do not cut it, it will cut you."
The Shaykh: This is the first point. Second, that playing shedah should not be done in the manner of dice, meaning in the manner of a lottery. In that case, it is included with dice, which are explicitly forbidden.
The questioner : That is how shedah is, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : No, it is not necessary. There are some games based on memory.
The questioner : As for nardshir, I read in the Lisan al-Arab dictionary that its definition is dice and chess.
The Shaykh : No, no, you are mistaken. Chess is one thing and dice are another.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.