Fatwa ID: 03276

Answered by: Maulana Javed ibn Nazir Kachhalia​

Question

Assalamualaikum

1) Is it haram to play games where the character "dies and comes back to life" and has for example 5 lives? I read it's haram because only Allah can bring back to life but this is obviously a game and without this system, we don't have second chances to complete missions. 

2) if games contain magic or kufr etc, but I'm not affected by it, can I still play it?

And which school of thought are the fatwas?

JazakumAllahukhairan

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيْم

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful 

Answer:

Islam and Shariah have given us the freedom of enjoying our life as far we don’t go out of the boundaries of Shariah and we don’t become oblivious of our duties and responsibilities towards Shariah.

Verily, Allah has created us for a purpose. And that purpose is not amusement of wasting time, rather, He created us to worship Him and to utilize our time wisely to gain His closeness and to please Him for our eternal success.

Allah says in the Qura’an:

“I did not create the jinn and the humans except that they may worship Me.” [1]

Electronic games, in general, include many evils aspects with regard to belief and behavior, and the games are accompanied by music, and young and old become so attached to them that they make them forget their Islamic duties and distract them from the rights of their own selves and of others. 

Furthermore, Allah says in the Qura’an:

“Among the people is he who buys diversionary talk that he may lead [people] astray from Allah’s way without any knowledge, and he takes it in derision. For such, there is a humiliating punishment.” [2]

According to commentators of the Qur'an, in the above verse, there is the word ‘Lahw’, which includes video games and are thus detested and should be avoided.

It will be impermissible to play any video game which either:

a)     Brings forth no good in this world or the Hereafter,

b)    Entails anything contrary to Islamic law,

c)     Comprises more harm and evil than benefit and good,

d)    Or is simply undertaken for amusement purposes and is a hindrance from total servitude to Allah.[3]

Similar reasons as above can also be found in ‘Aapke Masa’ail aur unke Hal’, in which has been mentioned the impermissibility of video games as general. [4]

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Maulana Javed ibn Nazir Kachhalia

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham