In most cases -- if not all -- it may come under the category of gambling and betting which are haraam.
They involve uncovering of ‘awrahs, mixing of men and women and listening to musical instruments.
In addition to that, they are a waste of time, which is spent on something that is not beneficial and distracts one from that which is more beneficial to him in religious and worldly terms.
As that is the case, the Muslim, whether male or female, should not preoccupy himself with that. He should keep himself busy with useful things that will benefit him in this world and in the Hereafter.
The scholars of the Standing Committee for Issuing Fatwas were asked: What is the ruling on watching sports tournaments such as the World Cup and so on?
[Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah, Volume 15, Page 238]They replied: Football matches that are played for money and similar prizes are haraam, because that is gambling. It is not permissible to accept a prize except in things that sharee‘ah has deemed permissible, namely racing horses and camels, and competing in archery. Based on that, going to matches is haraam and so is watching them [on TV], for the one who knows that they are being played for a prize, because going to them implies approval of them.
But if the match is not for a prize and does not distract one from what Allah has enjoined, such as prayer and the like, and it does not involve anything that is contrary to sharee‘ah, such as uncovering ‘awrahs, mixing of men and women or musical instruments, there is nothing wrong with that or with watching it. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on women watching football matches for entertainment and to support a team?
He replied:
End quote from the website of Shaykh Ibn Jibreen.It is not permissible to watch matches, as the players are usually not dressed properly and some of the thighs show, or the awrah may be outlined by the clothes, and that is a fitnah for women. If the aim is to relax, then that may be done by remembering Allah, reciting Qur’aan, and reading books of hadeeth, fiqh and ahkaam.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: What is the ruling on watching football matches that are shown on television?
He replied:
End quote.What I think is that watching matches that are shown on television and other events is a waste of time; a smart and wise man would not waste his time with such matters that bring no benefit at all.
This applies if it is free of other evils; if it is accompanied by other evils, such as if the viewer begins to venerate a kaafir player for example, then it is undoubtedly haraam, because it is not permissible for us to venerate the kuffaar at all, no matter how far they have advanced. It is also haraam if the thighs of young men appear, which may result in fitnah. So the correct view in my opinion is that it is not permissible for young men when they play football to let their thighs show, because that involves fitnah, even according to the view that the thigh is not ‘awrah. So I do not think that young men should ever show their thighs. If we say that the thigh is ‘awrah, which is a well-known view of the madhhab of Imam Ahmad, then the matter is clear: it is not permissible in any case.
What I advise our brothers to do is to make good use of their time, for time is the most precious of wealth.
------------------------------------------------------------
The dangers of watching football in modern day society:
- DANGER #1
Allāh (ﷻ) says:
[Surah Al-Mujâdilah: 22]“You will never find a people who ˹truly˺ believe in Allah and the Last Day loyal to those who defy Allah and His Messenger, even if they were their parents, children, siblings, or extended family...”
He (ﷻ) also said:
[Surah Al-Mâ'idah: 51]“O you who have believed, do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies. They are [in fact] allies of one another.”
[Surah Al-Mumtahanah: 4]“You already have an excellent example in Ibrāhīm and those with him, when they said to their people, “We totally dissociate ourselves from you and ˹shun˺ whatever ˹idols˺ you worship besides Allah. We reject you. The enmity and hatred that has arisen between us and you will last until you believe in Allah alone.”
Aṭ-Ṭabarāni narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās raḍhiyallāhu 'anhu that the Prophet ﷺ said:
[Classed Sahih by Albāni in Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Jāmi‘ Aṣ-Ṣaghīr, no. 2539]“The strongest bond of faith is taking believers as allies and friends for the sake of Allah and to regard disbelievers as enemies for the sake of Allah, to love for the sake of Allah and hate for the sake of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.”
And there are many evidences concerning this.
[Fatāwa Arkān Al-Islām, Page 183]Therefore, non-Muslim players like Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar...must be taken as enemies for the sake of Allah!
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (May Allah have mercy on him) said:
“So EVERY believer must disavow EVERY polytheist and disbeliever.”
If someone insults your mother, would you have love for them? Would you associate with them? Would you wear a shirt promoting them?
If not, then why do you do so towards those who insult Allāh - though Allāh deserves more love from you than your mother?!
If someone were to say, Messi and Co. do not insult Allāh, we say as Allāh (ﷻ) said:
[Surah Maryam: 88-90]And they say, "The Most Merciful has taken [for Himself] a son."(88) You have done an atrocious thing. (89) The heavens almost rupture therefrom and the earth splits open and the mountains collapse in devastation (90).
And you want to support such people?
Shaykh ibn Baz (May Allah Have Mercy on Him) said:
[Majmū‘ Fatāwa Ibn Bāz, Volume 5, Page 246]"Hating them and regarding them as enemies does not mean you should mistreat them or transgress against them if they are not in a state of war with the Muslims.
Rather what it means is hating them in your heart and regarding them as enemies in your heart, and not taking them as friends. But you should not offend them, harm them or mistreat them. [...] If they greet you, then return their greeting, advise them sincerely and direct them to do good...”
The different stages of loving the Kuffar:
All of these stages are IMPERMISSIBLE! Although they vary in severity and impermissiblity.
We'll list them starting with the worst.
1. Loving a Kafir on the basis of his religion. This type of love removes a person from the fold of Islam.
The following stages are impermissible, but they do not remove a person from the fold of Islam.
2. Loving a Kafir due to a sinful matter, eg. Music, immoral fashion, etc. This does not remove a person from the fold of Islam, unless one deems it permissible (Istiḥlāl).
3. Loving a Kafir due to a worldy interest, such as loving non-Muslim school mates and work colleagues.
4. Loving a Kafir due to a permitted (Mubah) matter.
Benefited from Sheikh Sulaymān Ar-Ruhaili waffaqhullah
When you advise some of the Salafi brothers concerning their love for non-Muslim football players and clubs, most of them argue that their love is not based on Deen, but on skill and ability (which is something Mubaah).
So is this type of love permissible?
Sheikh Sulayman Ar-Ruhaili waffaqahullah said (paraphrasing):
I consider this type of love to be Haraam“Loving a Kafir due to something (Mubāḥ); like loving a football player for his talent...which then extends to loving his club; for example, he begins to love Messi, then this love extends to loving his club (PSG). And you find some of them debating these footballing issues as though they are actual members of those clubs.
Note! I'm referring to loving a Kafir - even if this love is down to talent and skill. We're not referring to loving the actual game, we're referring to loving a non-Muslim player because of his talent and skill.
And I do not know any evidences which remove this type of love from the general Prohibition of loving the Kuffar.
And no doubt this is a means to loving them on the basis of their Deen. In fact, it is a means to imitating some of their actions which they perform as a result of their Kufr; for example, the fan makes a cross sign after scoring a goal because he sees Messi doing so whenever he scores a goal. So his love for him leads him to imitate him in this (Kufri) gesture. And this is a reality.
So it is a means leading to Haram, and every means leading to Haram is also Haram!”
This is what it's all about!
Since the start of the World Cup in 1930, two different trophies have been used: the Jules Rimet Trophy from 1930 to 1970, and the FIFA World Cup Trophy from 1974 to date.
The first trophy, named in honor of former FIFA President Jules Rimet, was made of gold-plated sterling silver and lapis lazuli, representing Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.
The second, the FIFA World Cup, was first used in 1974. It is made of 18-karat gold with a malachite base and depicts two human figures holding the Earth.
This is basically a statue
Imagine all these teams vying with one another to lay their hands on this statue in order to kiss it and raise it up high. We ask Allāh for safety and well-being in this world and the Next.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem (May Allaah have mercy on him) said:
[Fatawa Ibn Ībrahim Volume 8, Page 116-117]"Playing football nowadays is accompanied by reprehensible things which mean that playing it should be disallowed. These things may be summed up as follows:
1- It is proven to us that play continues during the times of prayer, which results in the players and spectators missing prayers or prayers in congregation, or they delay performing prayers until the time for them is over. Undoubtedly any action that interferes with performance of prayers on time or leads to missing prayers in congregation with no valid shar’i excuse is haram.
2– The nature of this game leads to factionalism, stirring up fitnah and hatred. These results are the opposite of what Islam promotes of tolerance, friendship and brotherhood, and cleaning hearts and souls of hatred, resentment and grudges.
3– The game involves physical danger for the players as a result of collisions and injuries. Usually the players do not end the game without some of them falling on the pitch unconscious or with broken arms or legs. Nothing is more indicative of that than the fact that there must always be an ambulance present throughout the game.
4– The purpose behind allowing sports is to make people become physically active and to train them for fighting and to ward off chronic disease. But playing football nowadays has no such aim. As well as the things mentioned above, it is now also taking people’s money for false purposes, let alone the danger of physical injury and the generation of hatred in the hearts of players and spectators, and the stirring up of fitnah. It has even gone so far that some spectators attack some players, which could go as far as murder, as happened in a match a few months ago. This alone is sufficient reason to disallow it. And Allaah is the source of strength."
DANGER #2
It diverts from the remembrance of Allāh:
Missing prayers, circles of knowledge, fulfilling the rights of one's parents, etc.
DANGER #3
Waste of time:
A football games lasts 90 minutes (excluding extra time). How many pages of Qur'ān could one recite in that time?
Everyone will be questioned regarding their time in this Dunya, including these 90 minutes.
DANGER #4
Football is an ideological tool used by the disbelievers to wage war against the Muslims, although many Muslims don't realise it.
Ask yourself this:
What has allowed so many disbelievers to enter the Arabian Peninsula (Qatar)?
What has given people the pass to drink alcohol openly in a Muslim country?
What has allowed them to bring immorality to a Muslim land and forced Muslims to turn a blind eye and receive them with such respect and hospitality?
Look at how the Muslim youth have become preoccupied with football. Is this not something the enemies want?
DANGER #5
Waste of money:
Stadiums & training facilities, Preparations for events, security, staff, etc. Broadcast and sponsorship deals, Salary for footballers & transfer fees, imagine if this wealth was used to build Marakiz, fund students of knowledge, support the poor and needy, equip and train soldiers to defend Muslim territory against the enemies...
DANGER #6
Gambling
DANGER #7
It presents evil people as role models
DANGER #8
It leads to injury and even loss of life:
footballers overwork themselves on and off the pitch and go all out during games; committing themselves in every tackle, block, dual, etc. which leads to frequent injuries. After all, they have to live up to their price tag, or else they'll be warming the benches.
hooliganism (bad manners, swearing, insults, evil slogans, racism...) stampedes due to overcrowding
migrant workers used to build stadiums in record times leads to unsafe working environments.
DANGER #9
Not to mention the music, free mixing, alcohol, and other evil practices that take place in stadiums during these matches.
DANGER #10
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (May Allah Have Mercy On him) said:
"It is not permissible for a young man to play football, for example, wearing only shorts that do not reach the knees or that do not reach the navel. It is essential that the area between the navel and the knee be covered in the case of young men."
[Liqa' al-Bab al-Maftuh, Volume 4, Page 33]
------------------------------------------------------------
WATCHING PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL HARAM?! - Tackled with Fatawa from the scholars of our time!
With many global footballing events coming up (EURO 2024 AND World Cup next year), we found it potent to spread the ruling around watching it, as given to us by our Ulama, as we find, surprisingly, many of the Muslims do not know of the ruling around football. May Allah protect us!
List of videos:
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin: 1. https://ia904606.us.archive.org/24/item ... CHmisQ.mp4
2. https://ia600404.us.archive.org/9/items ... te6H54.mp4
3. https://ia902204.us.archive.org/1/items ... i6QrFI.mp4
4. https://ia600400.us.archive.org/13/item ... 5QXiSM.mp4
Shaykh Abdul-Aziz Ibn baz: https://ia600405.us.archive.org/35/item ... _HD%29.mp4
Shaykh Salih Al-Fawzan: 1. https://ia600406.us.archive.org/14/item ... ZzbuAQ.mp4
2. https://ia600403.us.archive.org/9/items ... iDn28A.mp4
3. https://ia802204.us.archive.org/1/items ... 8xryZc.mp4
4. https://ia902202.us.archive.org/1/items ... CqPuBk.mp4
Shaykh Salih Al-Fawzan And Shaykh Abdur-razaq Al-Badr: https://ia800401.us.archive.org/27/item ... _HD%29.mp4
Shaykh Abdur-razaq Al-Badr: https://ia600402.us.archive.org/27/item ... _HD%29.mp4
------------------------------------------------------------
However it is important to note that unless mentioned otherwise, these are not referring to brothers going to the park to have a kick-about or a little low stakes competition within the bounds of Sharia, rather to the professional football that we find many people watching in their houses, and even paying to watch or paying to go and visit.
Last Thing Before We End With The Message, Shaykh Al-Albani (May Allah Have Mercy On Him) said:
“The person who is seeking the truth, one evidence will be enough for him. A person who is upon their desires, a thousand clues (evidences) will still not be clear for him.”
And Allah knows best.
