Advice regarding people’s preoccupation with sports competitions
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Question:
His third question in this episode, he asks His Eminence the Shaykh and says: In our time, the phenomenon of sports mania and sports illnesses of various kinds has emerged, and it has caused many Muslims, both old and young, to abandon holding fast to Islamic authenticity and proper Islamic character. Football in particular—and in all its forms—is the talk of the awake and the sleeping in their dreams. We find the stadiums built for it, the various devices that support it, the money gathered for it, and the athletes who have exerted effort in elevating sports and improving performance, as they say, are honored. People, in their support of teams and factions, this one supports such a team, and that one supports such a team, and so on and so on, even within the same family. In this support and affiliation with teams, there are sensitivities, hatred, and division, hearts full of malice, and opinions that do not meet on a single point, and there is absolutely no benefit behind all of that. My questions revolve around the following:
What is the ruling on all that you mentioned? What about those who pay their money to watch sports matches? And what is the ruling on those who have made sports their source of livelihood, such as referees, coaches, and players? Then, allocating a portion of match revenues to build a mosque, is that considered an act of good?
And what is your advice to those women who are clothed yet naked, who practice various types of sports in front of a viewing audience, and who are in their tight-fitting sports attire? I hope Your Eminence will graciously address these matters. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is no doubt that this matter is one of the great calamities that people have been afflicted with, and they have developed a great interest in it and great concern for it. Perhaps this has led to much malice, hatred, and disputes, as the questioner indicated. Perhaps it has also led to the loss of prayers, the exposure of many private parts, and great corruption in society. So to Allah we complain .
My advice to those you referred to—and they are the players—is that they should fear Allah, and that this sport should not occupy them from what Allah has made obligatory, and that it should not lead them to enmity, hatred, and disputes. So, if one plays it without it occupying him from prayer, or from an obligation, or leading him to enmity with his brothers and to fitnah, or leading him to the exposure of the private parts, or to free mixing with women; there is no blame on him in the original ruling, because it is a game in which there is no blame if it is free from these evils, and no money is involved in it.
However, if it leads to the loss of prayers, as is the norm, and to the exposure of private parts, and to financial assistance; all of this is forbidden, and all of it is what is wrong, and all of it is not permissible. Rather, it must be eradicated, and it is obligatory for the rulers to prohibit it, in order to block the door to fitnah, to protect hearts from corruption, to protect private parts, and to help these people to perform their prayers, maintain noble morals, and avoid the exposure of the private parts that Allah has forbidden to be exposed. And more severe and more vile than that is what happens with women. It is also not permissible, neither in the free mixing that occurs among men, nor in the display of adornment, fitnah, and tabarruj that occurs from them, nor in the taking of money in that regard. All of that is what is wrong, and each of them increases the other in evil and corruption.
There is no doubt that this arose from the weakness of religion, the scarcity of knowledge, and the abundance of idle time for which they find nothing to fill it. Therefore, they occupied themselves with this sport and its like, instead of what is understood in religion and worldly affairs, and they occupied themselves with it instead of thinking about public benefits and what benefits their community in its religion and worldly affairs. Until the evils that many of them have been afflicted with occurred. So we ask Allah to guide them and make them successful, and to rectify the conditions of all Muslims, and to make them successful in what benefits them in this world and the Hereafter, and in what occupies their time with what pleases Him, and rectifies the conditions of hearts and deeds. And we ask Allah to protect them from these harmful sports that harm them and harm their community in its religion and worldly affairs, and we ask Allah for safety and well-being from all evil.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
His third question in this episode, he asks His Eminence the Shaykh and says: In our time, the phenomenon of sports mania and sports illnesses of various kinds has emerged, and it has caused many Muslims, both old and young, to abandon holding fast to Islamic authenticity and proper Islamic character. Football in particular—and in all its forms—is the talk of the awake and the sleeping in their dreams. We find the stadiums built for it, the various devices that support it, the money gathered for it, and the athletes who have exerted effort in elevating sports and improving performance, as they say, are honored. People, in their support of teams and factions, this one supports such a team, and that one supports such a team, and so on and so on, even within the same family. In this support and affiliation with teams, there are sensitivities, hatred, and division, hearts full of malice, and opinions that do not meet on a single point, and there is absolutely no benefit behind all of that. My questions revolve around the following:
What is the ruling on all that you mentioned? What about those who pay their money to watch sports matches? And what is the ruling on those who have made sports their source of livelihood, such as referees, coaches, and players? Then, allocating a portion of match revenues to build a mosque, is that considered an act of good?
And what is your advice to those women who are clothed yet naked, who practice various types of sports in front of a viewing audience, and who are in their tight-fitting sports attire? I hope Your Eminence will graciously address these matters. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is no doubt that this matter is one of the great calamities that people have been afflicted with, and they have developed a great interest in it and great concern for it. Perhaps this has led to much malice, hatred, and disputes, as the questioner indicated. Perhaps it has also led to the loss of prayers, the exposure of many private parts, and great corruption in society. So to Allah we complain .
My advice to those you referred to—and they are the players—is that they should fear Allah, and that this sport should not occupy them from what Allah has made obligatory, and that it should not lead them to enmity, hatred, and disputes. So, if one plays it without it occupying him from prayer, or from an obligation, or leading him to enmity with his brothers and to fitnah, or leading him to the exposure of the private parts, or to free mixing with women; there is no blame on him in the original ruling, because it is a game in which there is no blame if it is free from these evils, and no money is involved in it.
However, if it leads to the loss of prayers, as is the norm, and to the exposure of private parts, and to financial assistance; all of this is forbidden, and all of it is what is wrong, and all of it is not permissible. Rather, it must be eradicated, and it is obligatory for the rulers to prohibit it, in order to block the door to fitnah, to protect hearts from corruption, to protect private parts, and to help these people to perform their prayers, maintain noble morals, and avoid the exposure of the private parts that Allah has forbidden to be exposed. And more severe and more vile than that is what happens with women. It is also not permissible, neither in the free mixing that occurs among men, nor in the display of adornment, fitnah, and tabarruj that occurs from them, nor in the taking of money in that regard. All of that is what is wrong, and each of them increases the other in evil and corruption.
There is no doubt that this arose from the weakness of religion, the scarcity of knowledge, and the abundance of idle time for which they find nothing to fill it. Therefore, they occupied themselves with this sport and its like, instead of what is understood in religion and worldly affairs, and they occupied themselves with it instead of thinking about public benefits and what benefits their community in its religion and worldly affairs. Until the evils that many of them have been afflicted with occurred. So we ask Allah to guide them and make them successful, and to rectify the conditions of all Muslims, and to make them successful in what benefits them in this world and the Hereafter, and in what occupies their time with what pleases Him, and rectifies the conditions of hearts and deeds. And we ask Allah to protect them from these harmful sports that harm them and harm their community in its religion and worldly affairs, and we ask Allah for safety and well-being from all evil.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.