“The fourth consideration” is that contests of this kind cause enmity and hatred and turn people away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. They resemble cockfighting and clashes between rams, as well as the contests of ordinary people that harm them without benefiting them. Allah, glorified is He, has forbidden wine and games of chance—that is, gambling—because they turn people away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer and cause enmity and hatred.

For something to constitute “prohibited gambling,” it need not involve a stake. Playing backgammon is forbidden by scholarly agreement even without a stake, notwithstanding an anomalous dissenting opinion that carries no weight. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

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

This is because backgammon turns people away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer and causes enmity and hatred. These contests turn people away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer, and cause enmity and hatred among them, to an even greater degree than backgammon. If, then, most of the imams have prohibited chess, and Mālik considered it worse than backgammon—even though those who play backgammon and chess, sinful though they may be, are better than these people—the point is clear.

“The fifth consideration” is that most of these people are either hypocritical heretics or wicked, openly sinful people. A righteous believer is scarcely to be found among them. Indeed, skilled practitioners among them have been found to have cast off the religion of Islam, neglecting their prayers and following their desires. Such a person believes neither in Allah nor in the Last Day, does not regard as forbidden what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, and does not follow the religion of the Muslims. If, however, he is a Muslim, he is an openly sinful person who commits forbidden acts and neglects obligations.

If what predominates among them is either hypocrisy or open sin, then Allah’s ruling concerning the heretic is that he be put to death without being asked to repent, while His ruling concerning the openly sinful person is that the prescribed punishment be carried out upon him, whether execution or otherwise. And one who associates