social media is erupted after Saudi Arabia’s top cleric, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh, has declared that playing of chess is “haram” (forbidden) in Islam.
Responding to a question on a television show where he issues fatwas after listening to the questions of viewers, Sheikh said that Chess encourages gambling and it is a complete waste of time. He added that it can cause hatred and enmity between people who play the board game.
He added the board game in the league of intoxicants, gambling, alcohol and the work of Satan. He further added that it cause people to lose focus from daily prayers of God.
His fatwa has provoked a heated debate and widespread criticism among Twitter users belonging to Arab. Some Twitter users mocked Sheikh saying chess is an intelligent game so the conservative clerics decry it. Few others defended the religious advice reminding that many other Islamic scholars had earlier warned that Chess be addictive and provoking.
Shiite Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had also previously declared that chess is prohibited in Islam because it could be used for gambling.