Sport and football
While millions of people in the world are dying because of poverty, hunger, diseases and wars, the governments spend billions of Dollars on the football players, coaches and stadiums to win the football war and world cup.
- Categories: General -
Peace be upon our prophet Muhammad, our intercessor in the day of Judgment, and peace be upon his family and companions and all those who followed them till the Day of Judgment.
The Almighty Allah says "Who took their religion as distraction and amusement and whom the worldly life deluded." So today We will forget them......."[Al-Araf 7:51]
{الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا ۚ فَالْيَوْمَ نَنسَاهُمْ...}
الأعراف: 51
Transliteration: Allatheena ittakhathoo deenahum lahwan walaAAiban wagharrathumu alhayatu alddunya faalyawma nansahum
He also says "And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned." [As-Saffat 37:24]
{وَقِفُوهُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُم مَّسْئُولُونَ}
الصافات: 24
Transliteration: Waqifoohum innahum masooloona
Sport and football
The question is: Will this goal drive us to paradise? Will it remove our poverty? Will it liberate our occupied lands???
Sport is attracting the world attention and people's concern
Dear beloved brothers: While millions of people in the world are dying because of poverty, hunger, diseases and wars, the governments spend billions of Dollars on the football players, coaches and stadiums to win the football war and world cup. If we have a look on the Islamic countries, we will find that a lot of them are suffering from the dangers of famine, floods, diseases, wars and other disasters; however they are spending billions of Dollars to win the football cup.
Once it is announced that there will be a local or international football championship, millions of Muslims are gathered around televisions to watch the matches and they forget the wars, slaughters, poverty, hunger and diseases issues that are afflicting Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Somalia, Niger, Sudan and other countries.
Islam attitude towards sport
Dear brothers and sisters: Islam doesn't prevent its followers to build up their bodies through practicing sports as it encourages them to be strong in their bodies, minds, ethics and souls, Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A strong believer is better and is more lovable to Allah than a weak believer……" [Muslim]
‹‹المؤمن القوي خير وأحب إلى الله من المؤمن الضعيف››
رواه مسلم
The prophet (peace be upon him) held two running races between him and his wife Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), as she won the first race and he won the second and upon this he (peace be upon him ) said " this(his winning) against that(her winning)." [Al-Albany said sound Hadith]
‹‹ هذه بتلك السبقة››
صححه الألباني
Also the Prophet had a she camel called Al Adba which could not be excelled in a race. (Humaid, a sub-narrator said, "Or could hardly be excelled.") Once a Bedouin came riding a camel below six years of age which surpasses it (i.e. Al'Adba) in the race. The Muslims felt it so much that the Prophet noticed their distress. He then said, "It is Allah's Law that He brings down whatever rises high in the world." [Al-Bukhari]
‹‹حق على الله أن لا يرتفع شيء من الدنيا إلا وضعه››
رواه البخاري
He also arranged races between horses, attended archery, rode the horses saddled and not saddled and wrestled with Rukana –May Allah be pleased with him- and knocked him down.
Islam approved and encourages sports in manner that gives benefit for all Muslims, as the physical education in Islam must be based on ethics, love and modesty, while the sport today, especially football, is away of the Islamic ethics and includes a lot of sins, evils and atrocities which lead to its prohibition .
The following are some atrocities that are taking place during playing and watching football:
Firstly, some shariah atrocities:
1- In most, if not all times, the prayer call is being raised and prayer is being performed while the crowed of football audience are attracted to the match and forget their prayer and Allah's warning when he says So woe to those who pray (4) [But] who are heedless of their prayer - " [Al-Maa'un 107:4-5]
{ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ ﴿٤﴾ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ}
الماعون: 4-5
Transliteration: Fawaylun lilmusalleena (4) Allatheena hum AAan salatihim sahoona
2- In football matches, the players' loins are exposed, the men and women are mixed together, men and women embrace and kiss each other in case of winning and the fans abuse each other in case of defeating.
3- Some people wear football shirts or raise flags on which cross is drawn.
4- Gambling, betting and giving bribery are among the atrocities that may be committed in football matches.
5- The noisy parties in which people drink wine and waste their money are made to celebrate with the winner team.
6- The Olympic Games represents the old polytheistic pagan traditions, as the biggest temple was built in Athens for the Greeks greatest God (Zeus) and beside this temple they built a playground in which the people play games that bring them near to this God whereas the sport games were a kind of worship for their Gods. Zeus had a feast, repeated every four years, which the Greeks glorified and considered it one of their greatest sacred feasts and fired a torch as a symbol for the eternity of their Gods, so when the crowds of athletes are gathered from all Islamic countries to participate in the Olympic Games, they are imitating the pagan Greeks in their glorifying for the sacred fire.
This is the truth behind the olympic games, purely pagan and polytheism, So what's your position O Muslims...??
7- Sport distracts Muslims from their decisive issues such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Philippine and the siege prescribed on their Muslim brothers in Gaza, as in the middle of all these, we find the Muslim youth are dancing and singing for winning the cup which is priceless.
Note:
We notice that the official in the Zionist entity in the occupied Palestine, which is called Israel today, don’t pay attention to sports, as an example they don't have a strong football team, to let their youth not occupied by anything except fighting Muslims, while we pay a great attention to sport, singing and music and most of us (except those upon whom Allah bestowed his mercy) don't care about our decisive affairs….
Secondly, some economic atrocities:
1- Muslims are wasting their money on football as we hear that players are bought with great amounts of money, while Muslims are suffering from hunger, poverty and deprivation. Isn't this Muslims' money which is wasted useless? Aren’t those spendthrifts meant with Allah's saying "And do not give the weak-minded your property …." [An-Nisaa4:5]
{وَلَا تُؤْتُوا السُّفَهَاءَ أَمْوَالَكُمُ...}
النساء: 5
Transliteration: Wala tutoo alssufahaa amwalakumu…
2- Muslims also are wasting their times as a lot of workers, employees, the great official in the country and the public leave their works to watch football matches and that leads to reducing the work and production ….
Thirdly, some social atrocities:
1- A lot of quarrels and hassles are taking place between players, friends, couples and even between fathers and sons because of football matches, and these quarrels may lead to disobedience for parents, divorce between couples or destroying the whole family.
2- A lot of ignorant and foolish people think that when their country wins an international match, it will be a tremendous victory that raise their countries' name or flag, although this winning is useless and will neither make them rich nor remove their poverty, misery, hunger or diseases.
Fourthly, some health atrocities:
1- As a result of fisticuffs and clashes between players, they are exposed to a lot of dangers, as many players are afflicted with unconsciousness or their legs or hands are broken because of the absence of the Islamic ethics and not the sportsmanship as they claim. The greatest evidence of the dangers of playing football is that they prepare an ambulance beside the court at the time of playing.
2- Some players encourage our Muslim youth on violence, drug addiction, abusing and bad ethics as those players who commit these evils represent a bad example for our youth.
Fifthly, some psychological atrocities:
1- A lot of people express their happiness till madness in case of winning, while they are afflicted with depression in case of losing the match.
2- there is an abominable exaggeration in describing the match details as we hear the sports commentator saying Allah Akbar and call loudly goal and repeats it many times and then say" Allah Akbar, praise be to Allah, O Allah grant us victory….etc”, while all these words don't suit this place which is filled with a lot of shariah violations.
3- The football teams are granted different titles such as lions, machines, elephants, cocks, league champions, world champion or universe champions ….etc, while all these compliments bring the outrage of Almighty Allah and His messenger.
4- The malice and hatred are grown in the audience and players' hearts.
5- The society individuals, especially the unemployed youth, are sometimes afflicted with frustration and desperation as they think that the long years they spent in education or hard works didn't benefit them, while they saw the players who are not scientifically qualified, get millions of Dollars just for moving their legs.
Note:
The annual salaries of Some players reach fifty million Dollars although they don't give a real benefit for the society, while physician, engineers, researchers, scientists, workers in hard or dangerous professions and others who give a real benefit for the society and lead their people towards development and prosperity, don't receive 0.001 % of the players' salaries…..It is really a strange world….
Sixthly, General warnings:
Football playing may cause many dangers for the mutual relations between countries such as the war erupted between Honduras and El Salvador on 1969 A.D, in which 500 people were killed.
Note:
A lot of Muslims are committing a sin when they wish to be football players because they wish something that leads them to sins and atrocities, so be aware our brothers as the reward of deeds depend upon the intentions.
Finally, the following is the Fatwa of high scholars' committee:
The question: what is the jurisprudential ruling of watching the sports matches like the world cup and the other?
The committee answer: playing football against money or other prizes is prohibited because this is a gambling. Also, it isn't permissible to take Sabq (substitute) except what is permitted by the shariah such as the substitute resulted from competitions of horses and camels races and archery. So if the viewer knew that match is played against a substitute, it wouldn't be permissible for him to watch it but if the match wasn't played against substitute, the viewer wasn't distracted from the prayer and other duties and the match didn't include prohibitions (like revealing loins, mixing between men and women or the existence of musical instruments), in this case it would be permissible to watch it.
The previous Fatwa was issued by the permanent committee for Fatwa under the number (15/238) and was given by sheikh Abd Alaziz Bin Baz (may Allah bestows his mercy upon him), sheikh Abd Alaziz Bin Abduallah Al Sheikh, sheikh Saleh Bin Fawzan Al Fawzan and sheikh Bakr Bin Abdullah Abu Zeid.
Dear beloved brothers:
In the Day of Judgment the man will not be asked about football matches, but he will be asked about his duties, prayers, sins and atrocities. The prophet (peace be upon him) said "The slave's feet in the day of judgment will not move (from the reckoning land) till he is asked about four (things):
How did he spend his age? What did he do with his knowledge? How did he earn his money? And how did he spend it? What did he do with his body (health)?" [Albany said sound Hadith]
‹‹لا تزول قدما عبد يوم القيامة حتى يسأل عن أربع : عن عمره فيم أفناه ؟ وعن علمه ماذا عمل به ؟ وعن ماله من أين اكتسبه ، وفيم أنفقه ؟ وعن جسمه فيم أبلاه ؟››
صححه الألباني
We invoke Almighty Allah to support us and all Muslims to make good use of our times in performing the righteous deeds.
Translated by Wathakker.net website