What is the meaning of the hadith: “Every form of play is invalid except for three”? And what is the ruling on playing football and chess?

The questioner : Regarding the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), that The Shaykh: In some of what a person amuses himself with, there may be a physical benefit, for example, playing ball, and so on, in terms of energizing a person and helping him with matters of truth. Is this among the things excluded from the hadith?

The Shaykh : Within the limits of what you mentioned, it is excluded. But what do you understand by his saying “invalid”?

The questioner : I mean, many scholars have mentioned that it is forbidden, based on the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) “invalid.” Among them, I mention al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and I mention this statement from Ibn al-Qayyim, and Allah knows best.

The Shaykh : But if we want to adhere to the principle that the concepts of the scholars are considered, then your saying “many” has a concept. What is the opposite of “many”?

The questioner : No, when I said “many,” I mean those about whom I have read a lot. I do not know if there is anyone who disagrees.

The Shaykh : Okay, and does the word “invalid” mean “forbidden” in the language?

The questioner : “Invalid” here may be, and that is the apparent meaning, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Okay, so this issue requires clarifying the meaning of this word, because I do not understand that the word “invalid” means “forbidden.” That is, we cannot say that if it is permissible for us to narrate the hadith by meaning, then “Every form of play that a son of Adam amuses himself with is forbidden except for the three or four things mentioned.” Rather, “invalid” means that it has no benefit, it is a waste of time, and the like.
Al-Halabi : Futility.

The Shaykh : Futility only. In any case, if we look at the reality of that era, we might find things that do not fall under this exception. For example, the race of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with Aisha. This cannot be included in the general rule, but rather it is included in the matters excluded in the hadith. This is an example of what was in that time. Now, of course, many new forms of amusement have emerged. These amusements must be restricted by Shari'ah guidelines... They are, by the ruling and the understood cause, as you mentioned the example of football. I said that within the limits of what I mentioned, we do not see that as invalid, let alone see it as forbidden. But with conditions that are not hidden from the people of knowledge, among which, for example, the clothing must be Shari'ah-compliant, and it must not expose the 'awrah, as is the case if we say all the players, most of the players with this ball and others are like that. Also, the timing of the matches must not be at the times of prayer such that they may miss the prayer entirely, or at least miss the prayer in congregation. If these amusements are regulated by Shari'ah guidelines, then they are not amusements, but rather they are actually a help in strengthening the body of the Muslim, as some scholars said in interpreting the saying of Allah the Exalted, contrary to the apparent meaning of the hadith . He (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as in the hadith of 'Uqbah ibn 'Amir in Sahih Muslim . Some people may understand from this hadith that strength is restricted to archery, but the reality is that what is understood from the Arabic style, especially if the strength here contradicts the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted , there is no room to understand the hadith except in the Arabic style, like his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) . So Hajj is 'Arafah; if he does nothing except standing at 'Arafah rigidly, ignorant of the Arabic style, then he has no Hajj. But his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) “Hajj is 'Arafah” means that the greatest pillar of the pillars of Hajj is standing at 'Arafah. Likewise, regarding that time when the means of fighting were limited between a spear, an arrow, and a sword, the spears were the strength that meant to paralyze the enemy's strength. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, in the context of explaining the importance of archery . If there are now some games or amusements that strengthen the bodies of Muslims, there is no objection to that at all, and it may even be a collective obligation, with the Shari'ah conditions to some of which I referred earlier. Did you record something?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Bring it.

The questioner : Regarding some games, if they fall into this category, what is the ruling on the game of chess? What is the Shari'ah ruling on that?

The Shaykh : Chess, if the idols in it are removed, and playing chess is also restricted by Shari'ah conditions, then it does not distract from performing the obligations, whether they are religious obligations, family obligations, or social obligations. So it is permissible, unlike dice, because first, there is a text in its prohibition with the strongest prohibition, and second, it is based on luck. So you find the players with it, or with games similar to it, you find the player among them shouting and saying, “O dice, O luck.” Chess has none of that. All it has is the exercise of the mind, so it is a type of mental exercise. If this exercise is sometimes, and with the conditions we mentioned earlier, we do not see an obstacle to it, knowing that some scholars, like Ibn Taymiyyah, for example, and others, hold the view of its prohibition, and he explains the prohibition with a reasonable cause. The difference between what he held and what I hold is that, in my belief, it is not permissible to absolutely prohibit something for which there is no text, unless it leads to what contradicts the text. So he says that chess distracts from the remembrance of Allah. And if we remember some of the matches that take place today and some of their details mentioned in the pages of newspapers and magazines, there is no doubt that they distract from the remembrance of Allah.