Fatwa ID: 03061
Answered by: Alimah Sumeyye Sofu
Question:
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
Can Muslims gamble?
Answer:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuh
Holy Quran mentions gambling and alcohol together in the same verse because both of them destroy personal and family lives.
Allah taala says in the Quran: “They ask you [Muhammad] concerning wine and gambling. Say: ‘In them is a great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit.’… Thus does Allah make clear to you His Signs, in order that you may consider” (Quran 2:219).
Allah tala also says: “O you who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, the dedication of stones, and divination by arrows are an abomination of Satan's handwork. Eschew such abomination, that you may prosper” (Quran 5:90).
Whatever Islam forbids something, there is a reason and benefit behind in it for the human.
There are many disadvantages to gambling. It makes a person forget his creator, prevent from prayers, it becomes an addiction, it increases hatred amongst people, damages relationships and can put one in financial difficulties thus leaving one in despair, depression, anxiety and worst-case scenario feeling suicidal. The following ayah is proof for it:
“Satan's plan is to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer. Will you not then abstain?” (Quran 5:91).
Instead of preoccupying time with this unlawful activity one should return to his lord & earn his wealth in halal ways.
Written by Alimah Sumeyye Sofu
Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah
Darul Ifta Birmingham
