As far as I know, chess was forbidden in Iran between 1980 and 1990.
Is this true?
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hyperspace wrote:
As far as I know, chess was forbidden in Iran between 1980 and 1990.
really?!
why?
No, let me guess...because it leads to free thinking, right?
The reason I asked, is because I was reading throughYahoo answers the other day, and somebody asked why chess was illegal in Iran, and they were just about lynched by answerers saying it wasn't true.
I have seen web pages by imans saying what is / is not allowed under Islam that say chess is not allowed. Might depend on your iman :-) Not sure what the religious objection is - maybe the chess pieces are considered images?
I don't know much about it, but I thought the only image they worried about was Mohammed's.
Estragon wrote:
The Taliban banned it while they were in control in Afghanistan - I believe the reason given was that if one has time to concentrate for hours it should be done over religious scriptures and prayer and meditation.
And they wonder why they are such a backward nation.
I believe that chess in the ME had a legacy as a gambling game (a coffee house game, where seedy characters would gather). Depending on who was interpreting the "rules," chess could be anti-islamic.
That's the old notion, dying slowly I guess. Chess is respectable now, outside of park games etc..
There was one very famous player--a muslim in a muslim society--centuries back who didn't want a post as a judge so he made his status as a chess player very public so he would be considered the wrong material for it.
I guess this was a less offensive way to back out than outright refusal.
Source: Some entry in Oxford Companion. If I find it I'll come back with an edit and names.
woodshover wrote:
I don't know much about it, but I thought the only image they worried about was Mohammed's.
Certain segments of Islam disallow images of any humans/animals.
woodshover wrote:
I don't know much about it, but I thought the only image they worried about was Mohammed's.
There are chess sets--geometric in design--that are acceptable, though we see all players using the western design from what I can tell.
Jun 24, 2010
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#12
Flamma_Aquila wrote:
Estragon wrote:
The Taliban banned it while they were in control in Afghanistan - I believe the reason given was that if one has time to concentrate for hours it should be done over religious scriptures and prayer and meditation.
And they wonder why they are such a backward nation.
I believe they are a "backward nation" as you say, because the nation has been used for weapons testing, military invasions from the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. And French, Italian, U.S., etc., infiltration to remain a poppy growing region to support drug distribution for those nations.
trysts wrote:
I believe they are a "backward nation" as you say, because the nation has been used for weapons testing, military invasions from the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. And French, Italian, U.S., etc., infiltration to remain a poppy growing region to support drug distribution for those nations.
No, no, it's definitely the lack of chess. 
Jun 24, 2010
0
#14
yakushi12345 wrote:
woodshover wrote:
I don't know much about it, but I thought the only image they worried about was Mohammed's.
Certain segments of Islam disallow images of any humans/animals.
Some segments of christianity do, too. The Amish, for example have a lot of restrictions on images.
Actually, they are a backward nation because they never were able to industrialize. Also, what are you basing the claim that all the wars were meant to keep drug distribution based on? Last time I checked the US was trying to end the opium trade.
As do some Fundamentalist Christians I have met through the years.
"Worshipping Graven Images" is the basis for their beliefs.
Personally, I'm not sure it applies as there is no worshipping.
goldendog wrote:
I believe that chess in the ME had a legacy as a gambling game (a coffee house game, where seedy characters would gather). Depending on who was interpreting the "rules," chess could be anti-islamic.
That's the old notion, dying slowly I guess. Chess is respectable now, outside of park games etc..
There was one very famous player--a muslim in a muslim society--centuries back who didn't want a post as a judge so he made his status as a chess player very public so he would be considered the wrong material for it.
I guess this was a less offensive way to back out than outright refusal.
Source: Some entry in Oxford Companion. If I find it I'll come back with an edit and names.
Nasr ed-Din/Nasrudin Hodja by any chance?
Jun 24, 2010
0
#18
yakushi12345 wrote:
Actually, they are a backward nation because they never were able to industrialize. Also, what are you basing the claim that all the wars were meant to keep drug distribution based on? Last time I checked the US was trying to end the opium trade.
I did not say "all the wars were meant to keep drug distribution". A country invades another country for a number of reasons, not just one. The U.S. would do well to concentrate on flying over opium fields and destoying them if they wished to end the opium trade. Of course, this is not the case.
ivandh wrote:
Nasr ed-Din/Nasrudin Hodja by any chance?
Not that I can find in my OC. If I can't find it I'll just say it was Ajeeb and hope that everyone will just nod.
Flamma_Aquila wrote:
Estragon wrote:
The Taliban banned it while they were in control in Afghanistan - I believe the reason given was that if one has time to concentrate for hours it should be done over religious scriptures and prayer and meditation.
And they wonder why they are such a backward nation.
Backward nation?
Glorified cavemen, if you ask me.
I read this a while back in the chess trivia section on here, where it said chess was illegal in Iran. Or perhaps it said Arabia. Is that true?