Sunday 20 May 2012

Modern sports and entertainment, allowed?

 مصباح الفقاهة - السيد الخوئي - ج ١ - الصفحة ٦٤٥

Misbahul Fuqahah by Ayatullah Khoei, Volume 1 Page 645

لا خلاف بين المسلمين قاطبة في حرمة اللهو في الجملة، بل هي من ضروريات الاسلام

There is no difference of opinion among the Muslims as a whole, on recreation/entertainment being totally haram, in fact, it is among the fundamentals of Islam.


كتاب المكاسب - الشيخ الأنصاري - ج ٢ - الصفحة ٤١

Kitabul Makasib by Shaikh Murtada al Ansari, Volume 2, Page 41

  حرمة اللّهو 
    
 The impermissibility of entertainment/recreation

اللهو حرام ، على ما يظهر من المبسوط والسرائر والمعتبر والقواعد والذكرى والجعفرية وغيرها

Entertainment/recreation is haram, as per what is apparent from (the books) al Mabsoot (Vol 1, Page 136) by Shaikh Tusi, al Sarair (Vol 1 Page 327) by ibn al Idris al Hilli, al Mu'atbar (Vol 2 Page 471) by Muhaqqiq al Hilli, Qawa'idul ahkam (Vol 1 Page 325) by Allama Hilli, Risalah al Ja'friah (Vol 1 Page 123) by Muhaqqiq al Karaki; as well as others. 

 منهاج الصالحين للسيد محمد سعيد الحكيم، الجزء الثاني قسم المعاملات

Minhajus Saliheen by Ayatullah Muhammad Sa'eed al Hakeem, Volume 2, Types of transactions

مسألة 7): ينبغي للمؤمن أن يترفع عن اللهو واللعب وإن كان حلالاً، فعن النبي (صلى الله عليه وآله) أنه قال: «كل لهو المؤمن باطل إلا في ثلاثة: تأديبه فرسه ورميه عن قوسه وملاعبته امرأته، فإنهن حق

Fatwa no. 7: It is recommended for the momin (believer) to stay aloof from entertainment and games, even if halal, because it has been reported* from the Prophet (pbuh) that he said: "Every entertainment/recreation of the momin is batil (wrong), except for three: training/exercising his horse, shooting (arrows) from his bow, and engaging in playful teasing (flirtation) with his woman; for indeed they are haq (true/righteous)".

*Translator's note: This hadith is reported in al Kafi (by Shaikh Kulaini), Volume 5 Page 50 Hadith 13, and in Tahdhibul Ahkam (by Shaikh Tusi) Volume 6 Page 175 Hadith 348.

الوجيز في الفقه للسيد محمد تقي المدرسي


استحباب المتعة

Section on the desirability of mutah

وروي عن الامام الباقر-عليه السلام - انه قال :"لهو المؤمن في ثلاثة اشياء: التمتع بالنساء، ومفاكهة الاخوان، والصلاة بالليل

It has been reported from Imam al Baqir (as) that he said: "Entertainment for the momin is in three things: doing mutahs with women*, joking/having fun with the brethren, and the night prayer."

*Translator's note: As can been seen from all the information presented above, Islam forbids/discourages all forms of entertainment (except for the ones which are explicitly excluded). This is rightly so because all the common forms of entertainment, such as movies, sports, video games etc are nothing but useless forms of escapism without any concrete benefits. 

Instead, as can be seen from the hadith above (from renowned Marja Taqlid Ayatullah Taqi al Modaressi's book), the very first form of entertainment that has been recommended is doing mutahs with women, which is something which provides the ultimate pleasure and abundant benefits in duniya and akhirah. In fact, all other forms of entertainment only thrive currently because strict restrictions are placed on mutah (sadly, even in the Shi'a communities themselves). May Allah (swt) ease the restrictions on mutah.

5 comments:

  1. First the fatwas about locking up women and keeping them illiterate, now the fatwa against sports and entertainment. Is there a limit to talibanisation????

    I highly doubt that you are even a shia mr bookha.

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  2. What about that hadith about the Prophet (pbuh) playing a camel racing game with his people. I think Osama was the winner.

    Do u know that hadith?

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  3. Assalaamu `Alaykum,

    Great stuff, as always!

    I do not like your translation for ملاعبته, you translated it as "merry-making", I believe a better translation would be "teasing". Look at what Yusuf al-Bahrani has titled the section that has this hadeeth in it.


    استحباب‏] المداعبة و الملاعبة قبل الجماع]
    The Desirability of Foreplay and Teasing before Sexual Intercourse
    - Yusuf al-Bahrani, al-Hadaa'iq al-Naadirah, vol. 22, pg. 130

    Wa `Alaykum Assalaam

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  4. @Nader: Wa'laikummus salam brother,

    Thanks for the appreciation.

    And thanks a lot for the correction as well, most welcome. I'd mistakenly thought that merry-making basically meant playing, joking/teasing etc, and I had reckoned that using a sophisticated/formal word like merry making was more suitable than simple words like teasing etc for a hadith translation. Now that you mentioned it, I checked and found that merry making refers to enjoying festive activities, and obviously that's not what the hadith is saying. I've corrected the mistake now.

    Wassalam

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  5. @Anonymous: I know the hadith you're referring to. Inshallah I'll post it later.

    Wassalam

    ReplyDelete