What is the ruling on the sport of boxing?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : There is another question. It is well known in the modern era that there are many sports practiced, for example, what is called martial arts or combat sports. Among these sports is boxing, which involves punching and striking the face. Does training in these sports to prepare oneself, for instance, as a type of preparation for jihad, fall under the prohibition of striking the face?
The Shaykh : I do not think that falls under training; rather, it falls under the category ofSunan Abi Dawud 2142Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani) This type of sport cannot be excluded from the generality of the text, especially since there are other types of sports by which a Muslim can strengthen his body and prepare himself to meet the enemy when necessary, without exposing himself to violating the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). However, while I admit that I have no knowledge of this, logically, it is not conceivable that boxing is more than mere play. I mean, if a Muslim meets a disbeliever who is a boxer, but the Muslim is practiced and trained in a type of sport that makes him strong, I do not think that by training in boxing he will overcome this Muslim who has not trained in boxing but has trained in other games. Perhaps Abu Abd al-Rahman here can name the game and how it is handled, and I think it does not involve striking the face, is that not so?
The questioner : Striking with the hand is not required. I mentioned boxing as an example; if you have good fitness, you can strike his face with your leg and break his face. It is not required to use only the hand.
The Shaykh : Allow me, may Allah guide you. You are asking about training, so you want to strike your Muslim brother with your leg in the name of training?
The questioner : I train in this game.
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, allow me a moment. We were "under the camera, and now you want the gutter." Is it permissible to strike the face in this boxing? I think of boxing, meaning if you jump to the man and you are training in this, that is not permissible.
The questioner : This, Shaykh, is now considered one of the latest methods.
The Shaykh : There are other methods.
The questioner : No, no, I am speaking from experience, meaning I am not speaking theoretically. If you do not have a weapon and you face him face to face, and he is practiced in these arts, you cannot stand against him.
The Shaykh : And another art?
The questioner : There is no such thing; all of these are combat arts. There must be striking to the face if you want to harm him.
The Shaykh : My brother, allow me, my professor. We are talking about you training with your Muslim brother. You cannot raid your disbeliever enemy except at the expense of experience with the Muslim.
The questioner : But I do not harm him. I mean, I control my strike so that I do not strike him with a blow that harms him.
The Shaykh : Even with your leg? That is not reasonable to me.
The questioner : There is a type of control.
The Shaykh : That is not possible, my professor. Like you and me, as long as we do not understand the subject, we will not meet with the group.
Abu Malik : I will tell you something. First, training between trainees starts gradually. They do not train you immediately to strike a strong blow; they first train you on the technique until you reach a high level of control, such that you direct the punch or strike to his face without touching his face. The same applies to the leg. This is known in the art of training because he trains not to harm the person training with him; he trains for self-defense. This person who is training with him, because he starts training in boxing, they bring him bags to train on, and then little by little.
The questioner : He gains control, meaning the strike might be one hundred percent...
The Shaykh : Allow me, can you repeat your first question?
The questioner : My question is...
The Shaykh : Repeat your question, do not renew it. Pay attention!
Abu Malik : BecauseThe Shaykh ..
The Shaykh : You, may Allah bless you, my professor, you must let the one who wants to learn learn, not teach him yourself! Hehe.
The Shaykh : I do not think that falls under training; rather, it falls under the category of
do not strike her on the face, do not revile her
لا تضرب الوجه ولا تقبحThe questioner : Striking with the hand is not required. I mentioned boxing as an example; if you have good fitness, you can strike his face with your leg and break his face. It is not required to use only the hand.
The Shaykh : Allow me, may Allah guide you. You are asking about training, so you want to strike your Muslim brother with your leg in the name of training?
The questioner : I train in this game.
The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you, allow me a moment. We were "under the camera, and now you want the gutter." Is it permissible to strike the face in this boxing? I think of boxing, meaning if you jump to the man and you are training in this, that is not permissible.
The questioner : This, Shaykh, is now considered one of the latest methods.
The Shaykh : There are other methods.
The questioner : No, no, I am speaking from experience, meaning I am not speaking theoretically. If you do not have a weapon and you face him face to face, and he is practiced in these arts, you cannot stand against him.
The Shaykh : And another art?
The questioner : There is no such thing; all of these are combat arts. There must be striking to the face if you want to harm him.
The Shaykh : My brother, allow me, my professor. We are talking about you training with your Muslim brother. You cannot raid your disbeliever enemy except at the expense of experience with the Muslim.
The questioner : But I do not harm him. I mean, I control my strike so that I do not strike him with a blow that harms him.
The Shaykh : Even with your leg? That is not reasonable to me.
The questioner : There is a type of control.
The Shaykh : That is not possible, my professor. Like you and me, as long as we do not understand the subject, we will not meet with the group.
Abu Malik : I will tell you something. First, training between trainees starts gradually. They do not train you immediately to strike a strong blow; they first train you on the technique until you reach a high level of control, such that you direct the punch or strike to his face without touching his face. The same applies to the leg. This is known in the art of training because he trains not to harm the person training with him; he trains for self-defense. This person who is training with him, because he starts training in boxing, they bring him bags to train on, and then little by little.
The questioner : He gains control, meaning the strike might be one hundred percent...
The Shaykh : Allow me, can you repeat your first question?
The questioner : My question is...
The Shaykh : Repeat your question, do not renew it. Pay attention!
Abu Malik : BecauseThe Shaykh ..
The Shaykh : You, may Allah bless you, my professor, you must let the one who wants to learn learn, not teach him yourself! Hehe.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.