and hearts from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer more than many kinds of intoxicating drinks and hashish do. A little play leads to much more. Prohibiting backgammon when no stakes are involved while permitting chess is like prohibiting a drop of grape wine while permitting a draught of a fermented wheat drink. Just as the latter position is utterly inconsistent with sound reasoning, analogy, and fairness, so too is this position concerning chess.

“The prohibition of backgammon” is established by an explicit text. The Sunan collections report from Abū Mūsā that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever plays backgammon has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.”

Mālik also narrated it in al-Muwatta’. He also narrated from ‘Ā’ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she learned that a family living in her house had a backgammon set. She sent them this message: “Unless you remove it, I will evict you from my house.” She rebuked them for it.

Mālik also narrated from Nāfi‘, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar, that whenever he found a member of his household playing backgammon, he would beat him and break the set.

In another wording of the hadith, Abū Mūsā said:

“I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, when backgammon was mentioned in his presence: ‘Whoever throws its dice to play it has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger.’”

He thus made merely playing it an act of disobedience, without stipulating that stakes be involved. Indeed, he explained it as throwing its dice.

Muslim narrated in his Sahīh from Abū Buraydah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever plays backgammon is as though he had dipped his hand into the flesh and blood of a pig.”

Another wording states:

“Then let him cut pigs into pieces.”

Thus the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in this