Chess forbidden in Islam, rules the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia's grand mufti has said that playing chess is forbidden in Islam, a British newspaper reported on Thursday.

Sheikh Abdulaziz al-Sheikh was responding to questions on a television show in which he issues fatwas (religious decrees) after listening to viewers' questions.

Al-Sheikh said the board game was "included under gambling" and was "a waste of time and money and a cause for hatred and enmity between players".

To justify the ruling, he referred to a verse in the Quran banning "intoxicants, gambling, idolatry and divination", The Guardian said.

Iraq's Supreme Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani too had issued a decree terming the game "haram mutlaqan" (forbidden absolutely or under any circumstances), with or without betting.

The game of chess, a board game, can be traced back to an ancient version called Chatrang, popular in Persia during 600 BC, IANS news agency said.

The name "chess" is a variant of the Persian "shah" (king) that replaced the original "shatranj" and "ajedrez" and came to be modified through dialect across Europe as 'check' and later "chess", IANS said.