This is like what happens to someone who drinks wine; indeed, many drinkers are more clearheaded than many chess and backgammon players. The player can satisfy his craving only with game after game, just as the wine drinker satisfies his craving only with cup after cup. The effects of these games linger in the mind after play has ended longer than the effects of wine. They intrude upon him during prayer, illness, and riding, and even at the approach of death—times when he should remember his Lord and turn to Him. Images of the pieces come before him, along with thoughts of the king, rook, firzān, and the like.
Thus, these games may turn the heart away from remembering Allah more powerfully than wine does, and they are closer to drinking. As the Commander of the Faithful, ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, said to those playing chess:
“What are these images to which you are so devoted?”
He then overturned the board. Likewise, enmity and hatred arise when one player defeats another, together with the mutual wrongdoing, lying, and betrayal involved—among the strongest causes of enmity and hatred. A player scarcely escapes any of these things.
When an activity frequently involves such things, human nature inclines towards them, and it offers no outweighing benefit, the Lawgiver unquestionably prohibits it. How much more so when these things occur more often than not! This is a consistently applicable principle of Islamic law, as we have explained at length in “The Principle of Blocking the Means to Evil” and elsewhere. We have shown that any act which frequently leads to something prohibited is a cause of evil and corruption. If it offers no outweighing benefit recognized by Islamic law, and its harm outweighs its benefit, it is forbidden. Indeed, every means leading to corruption is forbidden when it offers no outweighing benefit.