Riyadh:
Grand mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh has said that playing chess is haram in Islam as it encourages gambling. He said that chess is a waste of time and asked followers of Islam to abandon it.
The kingdom's chief cleric said during an interview that chess comes under gambling and is a waste of time and money and it also causes hatred and enmity between players, according to Guardian.
He cited some verse in the Quran to justify his views. Senior clerics had forbidden chess in late 70s. But the ban was lifted by Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini with a condition that is shouldn’t be used for gambling.
