# Is playing chess haram?

*Is chess haram in Imam Malik's view? No; he disliked time-wasting*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/35/
- Date: 2021-02-16 · Kind: question · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #202| Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (1:51:49–1:53:05)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=6709s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/

**Topics:** Entertainment, sport and leisure; The Maliki school

**Question as asked:** Is it true that in Imam Malik's view playing chess is haram? I thought chess was introduced to the Muslim world after the conquest of Persia.

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No, chess is not haram, he says; Imam Malik discouraged it as a waste of life but never called it haram.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says playing chess is not haram.

**Evidence, his words at 1:51:49:** “no playing chess is not haram um yeah chess wasn't there in the time of the prophet not amongst the immediate arabs” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--PntsaR8ck&t=6709s)

## Longer summary

Asked whether Imam Malik held chess haram, given that chess came to the Muslims after the conquest of Persia, Mufti Abu Layth says playing chess is not haram. He says chess was not played in the Prophet's society but was introduced in the time of the companions, who discussed it, some in favour and some against. He says al-Shatibi in al-Muwafaqat goes through Imam Malik's fatwas on chess: Malik discouraged it because he saw people wasting their lives on it, but never called it haram, which he compares to someone today rebuking time spent on TV series or computer games that are not haram.

## Sources and names cited

- Imam Malik
- al-Shatibi
- al-Muwafaqat
- sahabah (companions)

## Transcript (machine tier, 1:51:49–1:53:05)

[1:51:09] you're going to get just tons of them lazy and but so these are lazy and you'll get a lot of these uh that will move back and forth muhammad uh what even they will move between baghdad and basra sometimes but there was a strong representation uh mufti is it true in imam malik's playing chess is haram i thought chess was introduced to the muslim world after the conquest of persia

[1:51:48] no playing chess is not haram um yeah chess wasn't there in the time of the prophet not amongst the immediate arabs um so i'm not saying he wasn't there in the world but in the prophet society people didn't play chess but in the time of the companions it was introduced so there's a lot of discussions that the companions have over chess some in favor some against but it's not haram the there are some fatal in the in the muaffakat of imam ashatabhi he goes through imam alex fatawa on chess and things and

[1:52:26] why imam malik discouraged disliked these kind of things you see because he saw people just wasting their lives in it and obviously this was not he never said it's haram but he kind of like rebuked it and but that was his personality it's like today people watching tv series or you know playing computer games or doing these things are not haram but some people you know it's not from their temperament to you know they kind of see this as you know why are you wasting your life so that's how imam malik was

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment --PntsaR8ck/s/35. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/--pntsar8ck/s/35/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.