Mohammed and chess

[mod: please use the Open Discussion Group if you want to discuss religion]

Can this be true? The extract comes from the web

http://amboytimes.blogspot.be/2006/06/mohammed-on-chess.html

I always liked chess, it's one of the few games that requires skill without the aid of luck. How was I to know it was a sin?

Mohammad on Playing Chess:

"Buraida reported on the authority of his father that Allah's Apostle said: He who played chess is like one who dyed his hand with the flesh and blood of swine."

Sahih Islam, Book 028, Number 5612.

So because Mohammad was a bad chess player and a sore loser, now muslims are forbidden from playing chess.

It seems to me muslims can play chess like the rest of us, or is there effectively an issue?

Sure, if you don't mind having red hands.

In your case they would match your toupee!

Seriously though, I'd like to see something more authoritative here (my source seems to be ambiguous) - maybe someone who is Muslim could weigh in here  http://islamqa.info/en/ref/14095

This source appears legit, but I'm certainly no expert on Islam:

http://www.islamiccentre.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1128:playing-chess-and-poetry-not-allowed-&catid=42:halal-faqs&Itemid=88

Not just red.. Swine red, inpure beast red, non hallal red...

Thanks Nimzo, your last reference makes sense, but i would effectively like to hear what muslims say. I believe we have plenty of them playing on the site.

I do know chess was banned in Iran after the Shah was ousted. We had a strong Iranian on our college team at MTSU and I played Shirazi 9 times, not counting numerous speed games. He was the chess instructor for the military under the Shah.

So, there could be an issue...

I don't think a blogpost entry from someone that seems not only pretty thick but obsessed with Muslims and immigrants should be taken too seriously. He obviously knows absolutely nothing about the subject in question, and his music preferences include this one from another of his posts:

the song is about a young woman luring a Marine into an ambush where she and her sister are killed by her jihadi father and brother, who in turn are killed with great justification by the Marine 

I had no prior knowledge of the subject, and hope it is indeed not true. There are however multiple other indications that seem to confirm that some islam forces do not like chess.

If you are actually interested in learning something about the subject you shouldn't do it from racist bloggers.

It was the first reference google listed. It triggered a question and statements like the one on Iran seem to confirm there is possibly an issue. So what better information do you have?

I think what we need are some cartoon depictions of Mohammed playing chess.  That should help get to the bottom of this.

I was thinking the same john :-)

Better information than "because Mohammad was a bad chess player and a sore loser, now muslims are forbidden from playing chess"? Someone should tell the Azerbaijanis that playing chess is forbidden, not to mention all the other Muslim countries that participate in for example the Chess Olympiad.

So Fabelhaft, you are sure that no Muslims face restrictions to play chess and the text is a complete invention of a racist?

Iran's womens team did quite well in the Olympiad, by the way. They finished 9th, ahead of for example USA, and also Afghanistan and Pakistan participated. Among the men the strongest Muslim country was Azerbaijan in 10th place.

Ok, good info. Thanks.

Sahih Muslim, the book from which the passage comes from, is a Sunni book. The Iranians are mostly Shia.

I'm sure that "because Mohammad was a bad chess player and a sore loser, now muslims are forbidden from playing chess" is an invention. I don't think the blog guy is the best source for objective information on Islam, to put it mildly.

Chess has (together with other games) often been criticised by religious people, and it has been forbidden by many Christian rulers, even if that was long ago, and for shorter periods in for example Iran and Afghanistan. It isn't hard to find verses forbidding all kinds of weird things in various religious books, and some modern believers claiming that this or that is sinful, but most people seem to be able to use their common sense.

I've played Iranians, Egyptians, Turks and citizens of other Islamic countries on chess.com. I never thought to ask about their religion or if it forbade them to play.