66. Witnesses
٦٦۔ كِتَابُ الشَّهَادَاتِ
ادْفَعْ بِكَذَا
[Machine] Muhammad ibn Sirin and Hisham ibn Urwah were playing chess competitively.
كَانَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ سِيرِينَ وَهِشَامُ بْنُ عُرْوَةَ يَلْعَبَانِ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ اسْتِدْبَارًا
[Machine] That the commoner used to play chess and wear a headscarf and let his hair down, because he was hiding from the pilgrims.
أَنَّ الشَّعْبِيَّ كَانَ يَلْعَبُ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ وَيَلْبَسُ مِلْحَفَةً وَيُرْخِي شَعْرَهُ وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ كَانَ مُتَوَارِيًا مِنَ الْحَجَّاجِ
[Machine] I exited the grand mosque, when suddenly I saw a man who had approached him with a mounted animal. A man asked him, "What did Al-Hasan used to say about chess?" He replied, "He did not see anything wrong with it and he disliked backgammon." So I asked, "Who is this?" They replied, "Ibn 'Awn," and he used to use a gold toothpick.
خَرَجْتُ مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْجَامِعِ فَإِذَا رَجُلٌ قَدْ قُرِّبَتْ إِلَيْهِ دَابَّةٌ فَسَأَلَهُ رَجُلٌ مَا كَانَ الْحَسَنُ يَقُولُ فِي الشِّطْرَنْجِ؟ فَقَالَ كَانَ لَا يَرَى بِهَا بَأْسًا وَكَانَ يَكْرَهُ النَّرْدَشِيرَ فَقُلْتُ مَنْ هَذَا؟ فَقَالُوا ابْنُ عَوْنٍ وَكَانَ مُضَبِّبَ الْأَسْنَانِ بِالذَّهَبِ
[Machine] I came to Basra in search of hadith, so I met Bahz ibn Hakim and found him with a group playing chess.
أَتَيْتُ الْبَصْرَةَ فِي طَلَبِ الْحَدِيثِ فَأَتَيْتُ بَهْزَ بْنَ حَكِيمٍ فَوَجَدْتُهُ مَعَ قَوْمٍ يَلْعَبُ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ
[Machine] I heard Sufyan say that he saw Ibrahim al-Hajari playing chess. Al-Shafi'i, may Allah have mercy on him, considered playing chess to be a disputed matter. It does not necessitate invalidating one's testimony, but he expressed his dislike for it, as mentioned earlier. This is the most similar and preferred opinion in his school of thought. Those who dislike it are the majority, and there are those who argue with his statement. And with Allah is the guidance.
سَمِعْتُ سُفْيَانَ يَقُولُ رَأَيْتُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ الْهَجَرِيَّ وَكَانَ يَلْعَبُ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ فَجَعَلَ الشَّافِعِيُّ رَحِمَهُ اللهُ اللَّعِبَ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ مِنَ الْمَسَائِلِ الْمُخْتَلَفِ فِيهَا فِي أَنَّهُ لَا يُوجِبُ رَدَّ الشَّهَادَةِ فَأَمَّا كَرَاهِيَةُ اللَّعِبِ بِهَا فَقَدْ صَرَّحَ بِهَا فِيمَا قَدَّمْنَا ذِكْرَهُ وَهُوَ الْأَشْبَهُ وَالْأُولَى بِمَذْهَبِهِ فَالَّذِينَ كَرِهُوا أَكْثَرُ وَمَعَهُمْ مَنْ يُحْتَجُّ بِقَوْلِهِ وَبِاللهِ التَّوْفِيقُ
[Machine] He used to say that chess is the easy game for non-Arabs, this is a message, but it has evidence.
أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ الشِّطْرَنْجُ هُوَ مَيْسِرُ الْأَعَاجِمِ هَذَا مُرْسَلٌ وَلَكِنَّ لَهُ شَوَاهِدَ
[Machine] "What are these statues that you are devoted to?" [Surah Al-Anbiya' 52]
{مَا هَذِهِ التَّمَاثِيلُ الَّتِي أَنْتُمْ لَهَا عَاكِفُونَ} [الأنبياء 52]؟
[Machine] "What are these statues that you are devoted to?" [Quran 21:52]. It is better for him to touch a live coal until it turns cold than to touch them.
{مَا هَذِهِ التَّمَاثِيلُ الَّتِي أَنْتُمْ لَهَا عَاكِفُونَ} [الأنبياء 52]؟ لَأَنْ يَمَسَّ جَمْرًا حَتَّى يُطْفَأَ خَيْرٌ لَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَمَسَّهَا
[Machine] Ali, the owner of the chess set, said, "The biggest liar is the one who claims, 'I killed, when they haven't killed anyone.'"
قَالَ عَلِيٌّ ؓ صَاحِبُ الشِّطْرَنْجِ أَكْذَبُ النَّاسِ يَقُولُ أَحَدُهُمْ قَتَلْتُ وَمَا قَتَلَ
[Machine] Ali passed by a gathering of the people of Taym while they were playing chess. He stood in front of them and said, "By Allah, you were not created for anything other than this? By Allah, if it were not for the Sunnah, I would have struck your faces with it."
مَرَّ عَلِيٌّ ؓ بِمَجْلِسٍ مِنْ مَجَالِسِ تَيْمِ اللهِ وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ فَوَقَفَ عَلَيْهِمْ فَقَالَ أَمَا وَاللهِ لِغَيْرِ هَذَا خُلِقْتُمْ أَمَا وَاللهِ لَوْلَا أَنْ تَكُونَ سُنَّةً لَضَرَبْتُ بِهَا وُجُوهَكُمْ
[Machine] He claimed that he was the guardian of an orphan child, so he burned it.
أَنَّهُ وَلِيَ مَالَ يَتِيمٍ فَأَحْرَقَهَا
هُوَ شَرٌّ مِنَ النَّرْدِ
لَا يَلْعَبُ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ إِلَّا خَاطِئٌ
[Machine] Aisha, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ , disliked gambling, even if it was not played with money, and Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri disliked playing chess.
كَانَتْ عَائِشَةُ زَوْجُ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ تَكْرَهُ الْكَبْلَ وَإِنْ لَمْ يُقَامَرْ عَلَيْهَا وَأَبُو سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيُّ يَكْرَهُ أَنْ يُلْعَبَ بِالشِّطْرَنْجِ
هِيَ بَاطِلٌ وَلَا يُحِبُّ اللهُ الْبَاطِلَ
هِيَ مِنَ الْبَاطِلِ وَلَا أُحِبُّهَا
[Machine] It is from falsehood, and Allah does not love falsehood.
هِيَ مِنَ الْبَاطِلِ وَلَا يُحِبُّ اللهُ الْبَاطِلَ
[Machine] Let us stay away from this magic and let us be warned against playing with it, as advised by Yazid bin Abi Habib, Muhammad bin Sireen, Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, and Malik bin Anas.
دَعُونَا مِنْ هَذِهِ الْمَجُوسِيَّةِ وَرُوِّينَا فِي كَرَاهِيَةِ اللَّعِبِ بِهَا عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ أَبِي حَبِيبٍ وَمُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ النَّخَعِيِّ وَمَالِكِ بْنِ أَنَسٍ