Backgammon and Chess Are a Waste of Time

Beware of chess and backgammon, for they are the occupation of idlers and the pursuit of the self-indulgent. They squander one’s life and distract from obligatory duties. Your lifetime should be too dear and precious to you to fritter it away on such pointless trivialities or ruin it through follies that cause harm and lead to destruction.

The Prohibition of Soothsaying and Astrology

Beware of judging by the stars and practicing soothsaying. Whoever believes such claims is thereby taken outside the faith and numbered among those who have cast it off.

As for calculating the positions of celestial bodies, distinguishing them individually, knowing when they rise and set, determining their mansions and zodiacal constellations, knowing when the sun and moon enter them, calculating their degrees for navigation, and ascertaining the hours and prayer times by means of shadows and these celestial bodies—this is commendable, for all of it can be ascertained and understood through calculation. Allah Most High says, “And it is He who placed for you the stars that you may be guided by them through the darkness of the land and sea.” Al-An‘ām 97.

And He, Mighty is He, says, “He is the One who made the sun a radiant light and the moon a light, and ordained phases for it so that you might know the number of years and the reckoning of time. Allah did not create all this except in truth. He makes the signs clear for people who know.” Yūnus 5.