According to the highest religious cleric in Saudi Arabia, the indoor game of Chess is ‘haram’, and thus forbidden from Muslims.
The cleric went on to call the game of chess a waste of time, and one that spreads ‘hatred and enmity’. While the fatwa is not expected to be enforced as a ban on the game altogether, it is bound to raise questions and discussions on the topic.
This is not the first time that the harmless game of chess is coming into controversy. Earlier, the game was banned in Iran during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. However, the ban was repealed a few years later.
Religious leaders in Iraq have also called the game un-Islamic, and have enforced a ban on playing the sport in public, with friends, or even with a computer!!
