Gambling
Gambling (Arabic: القمار) is a game in which the parties bet on some money or property to be paid to the winner. In Islamic jurisprudence, gambling is forbidden. Jurists have, among other things, appealed to verse 90 of Qur'an 5 to show the forbiddance of gambling. According to this verse, gambling is characterized as a defilement from the work of Satan.
Jurists do not forbid all kinds of betting. They appeal to certain hadiths to show that betting for riding races, archery and fencing does not count as gambling. According to their fatwas, it is forbidden to play with instruments of gambling, regardless of whether it involves betting.
Jurisprudential Definition
In books of jurisprudence, different definitions of gambling are offered. According to al-Shaykh al-Ansari, gambling consists in playing with certain instruments in which something is bet on (to be paid to the winner)[1].
Other jurists believe that gambling consists in playing with gambling instruments, whether or not it involves betting[2].. In his Mustalahat al-fiqh, Ali Mishkini defines gambling as a game in which the loser is required to pay something to the winner[3].
However, not all cases of betting are considered by jurists as forbidden. According to their fatwas, betting for riding, archery, and fencing is not forbidden. These games are referred to in jurisprudence as "sabq" (riding race) and "rimaya" (archery)[4].
Jurisprudential Ruling
According to al-Shaykh Murtada al-Ansari and Muhammad Hasan al-Najafi, jurists have consensus over the forbiddance of gambling, and it is evidenced by the Qur'an and mutawatir hadiths[5].
The verse cited for the forbiddance of gambling is verse 90 of Quran 5 in which gambling is regarded as a defilement from work of Satan: "indeed, intoxicants, gambling (Arabic word in the verse: al-maysir), [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan"[6].
According to hadiths, the word, "al-maysir" in this verse refers to gambling. For instance, according to a hadith cited in al-Kafi, Imam al-Baqir (a) said: "when this verse was revealed, the Prophet (s) was asked what 'maysir' was, and he replied: everything with which one gambles"[7]. Moreover, in this book, al-Kulayni quoted Imam al-Rida (a) as saying that "maysir" is gambling[8].
Instruments
Gambling instruments are instruments usually used for purposes of gambling[9]. In jurisprudential works, things such as chess[10], backgammon[11], cards, and billiards are discussed as gambling instruments[12].
According to the fatwas of the majority of jurists, it is forbidden to play with gambling instruments, whether or not it involves betting[13]. Moreover, jurists forbid the construction, sale, purchase and renting of gambling instruments[14].
Jurists do not generalize the jurisprudential ruling of gambling to betting in riding races such as horse-riding and camel-riding, as well as archery and fencing[15]. They appeal to certain hadiths to show that these cases do not count as gambling, although they involve betting[16].
Rulings
Below are some rulings of gambling according to jurisprudential books:
- It is forbidden to eat a food that is acquired through gambling[17].
- A gambler's testimony is rejected as unreliable[18].
- It is forbidden to learn gambling[19].
- Money obtained via gambling is illegitimate and should be returned to its owner[20].
Notes
- ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ansari, al-Makasib, p.371.
- ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ansari, al-Makasib, p.371.
- ↑ Mishkini, Mustalahat al-fiqh, p. 430.
- ↑ For instance, see: al-Tabataba'i al-Ha'iri, Riyad al-masa'il, vol. 10, p. 233.
- ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ansari, al-Makasib, vol.1, p. 371; al-Najafi, Jawahir al-kalam, vol. 22, p. 209.
- ↑ For instance, see: al-Najafi, Jawahir al-kalam, vol. 22, p. 209.
- ↑ Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol.5, p.122-123.
- ↑ Al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, vol.5, p.124.
- ↑ Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-islami Inistitute, Farhang-i fiqh, vol.1, p.152.
- ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ansari, al-Makasib, vol.1, p.372.
- ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ansari, al-Makasib, vol.1, p.372.
- ↑ Makarim Shirazi, Istifta'at-i jadid, vol.2, p. 238.
- ↑ Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-islami Inistitute, Farhang-i fiqh, vol.1, p.153.
- ↑ Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-islami Inistitute, Farhang-i fiqh, vol.1, p.153.
- ↑ Al-Tabataba'i al-Ha'iri, Riyad al-masa'il, vol. 10, 233-235; al-Najafi, Jawahir al-Kalam, vol.41, p.56.
- ↑ Al-Tabataba'i al-Ha'iri, Riyad al-masa'il, vol. 10, 233-235.
- ↑ al-Najafi, Jawahir al-Kalam, vol.2, p.109.
- ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Muqni'a, p.726; al-Hilli, al-Jami' al-shara'i', p.539;al-Shaykh al-Tusi, al-Nihaya, p.325.
- ↑ Al-Muhaqqiq al-Hilli, Shara'i' al-islam, vol.2, p. 4.
- ↑ Al-Tabataba'i al-Ha'iri, Riyad al-masa'il, vol.8, p. 170
References
- Daʾirat al-Maʿārif al-Fiqh al-Īslamī Inistitute. Farhang-i fiqh muṭābiq bā madhhab-i Ahl al-Bayt (a). 1385 Sh.
- Ḥillī, Yahyā b. Saʿid al-. Al-Jāmiʿ li-l-sharāʾiʿ. First edition. Qom: Sayyid al-Shuhada Scholarly Institute, 1405 AH.
- Khoeī, Sayyid Abu l-Qāsim al-. Mawsūʿa al-Imām al-Khoeī. First edition. Qom: Ihya' al-Athar al-Imam al-Khoei inistitute, 1418 AH.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqub al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by Ali Akbar Ghaffari and Muhammad Akhundi. Fourth edition. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyah Publications, 1407 AH.
- Makārim Shīrazī, Naṣir. Istiftaʾat-i jadīd. Second edition. Qom: Publication of Imam Ali b. Abi Talib Seminary, 1427 AH.
- Mishkīnī, ʿAlī. Muṣīalaḥāt al-fiqh. Third edition. Qom: al-Hadi Publications, 1381 Sh.
- Muḥaqqiq al-Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. Ḥasan al-. Sharāʾiʿ al-īslām fī masāʾil al-ḥalāl wa al-ḥarām. Edited by Abd al-Husayn Muhammad Ali Baqqal. Second edition. Qom: Isma'iliyan Publications, 1408 AH.
- Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharaʾi' al-īslam. Seventh edition. Beirut: Dar Ihya' al-Turath al-Arabi, 1404 AH.
- Shaykh al-Anṣārī al-. Al-Makāsib al-muḥarrama. First edition. Qom: International Congress of Shaikh al-Ansari publications, 1415 AH.
- Shaykh al-Mufīd al-. Al-Muqniʿa. First edition. Qom: World Conference of the Millennium of al-Shaykh al-Mufid, 1413 AH.
- Ṭabātabāʾī al-Ḥāʾirī, Sayyid ʿAlī. Riyāḍ al-masāʾil fī tahqīq al-ahkam bi al-dalāʾil. First edition. Qom:Al al-Bayt Publications, 1418 AH.