and His Messenger (1), as an a fortiori indication that the one who plays chess is guilty of an even graver act of disobedience. Allah and His Messenger would never forbid a practice that contains a certain harm yet allow another whose harm is greater. Plain sense and real-life experience bear witness that the damage caused by chess—its preoccupation of the heart and its distraction from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer—is more serious than that of nard. Chess also engenders enmity (2) and hatred, for each player consciously seeks to subdue the other and take his wealth, and few things kindle enmity and hatred more than that. For this reason Allah, exalted is He, has forbidden this type of contest, because it embodies what He detests and bars one from what He loves.

Section: When the overriding benefit includes something that Allah and His Messenger love, it follows that no muḥallil (a third, non-staking entrant) should be inserted between the two competitors; the reasons for this are as follows (3).

The second category is the converse of the first: it contains a clear preponderant benefit, embodies what Allah and His Messenger love, assists in attaining it, and leads to it (4). Allah Most High has therefore legislated it for His servants and prescribed for them the means that facilitate and direct toward it—such as horse-racing, camel-racing, and archery contests—which include