The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia has declared chess “haram” in a video clip that circulated on social media on Thursday.
The ancient game, popular in the Gulf kingdom and thought to have originated in India in the sixth century, is a “waste of time,” according to Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah.
Abdullah is considered the most powerful Sunni religious figure in Saudi Arabia and was answering a viewer’s question during his weekly television show, With His Eminence the Mufti.
Though it was widely reported in the Arabic press on Thursday, the clip is thought to have been first broadcast in 2014.
“The game of chess is a waste of time and an opportunity to squander money. It causes enmity and hatred between people,” Abdullah is heard to say in the clip, comparing it to the pre-Islamic Arabian game of maisir – which is forbidden by the Quran - in which players shoot arrows to win pieces of camel meat.
Several press reports have incorrectly stated the fatwa as new and that chess was now banned in Saudi Arabia.
Though the grand mufti is an authoritative figure in Saudi Arabia, his pronouncements do not carry the force of law.
It is a common practice for Muslims to seek personal religious guidance from learned scholars, but their advice is not considered binding.
Musa Bin Thaily, president of the law committee at the Saudi Chess Association, confirmed on Twitter on Thursday that the fatwa had been issued, but said it had yet to have any legal effect.