[DAWN] Soddy Arabia...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
's grand mufti Sheikh Abdullah al-Sheikh during a television program said playing chess is forbidden in Islam, British newspaper The Guardian reported.
"That which is not required is forbidden."
Responding to a question on a television show in which he issues fatwas (religious decrees) after listening to viewers' questions, Sheikh said playing the board game is 'haram' (forbidden) as it encourages gambling and is a waste of time.
He claimed that the game was "included under gambling" and was "a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players".
Al-Sheikh justified the ruling by referring to a verse in the Koran banning "intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination".
Iraq's Supreme Shia holy man Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani too had issued a decree terming the game 'haram mutlaqan' (forbidden absolutely or under any circumstances), with or without betting.
