Again? Islam Prohibits Playing Chess

Let's see, how many times, over the course of Herstory have males in their long flowy feminine robes from various "religions" attempted to outlaw/ban chess as somehow "sinful?"  Need you any further proof that chess is, indeed, The Game of the Goddess?  But try as they might, the religious patriarchs have not succeeded in abolishing Her, and they never will.

Checkmate: Saudi grand mufti makes move against chess

By Don Melvin, CNN

January 22, 2016

(CNN)   So does everyone need to roll up their rooks and box up their bishops?  Maybe not, but some people in Saudi Arabia might be wondering.

Saudi's grand mufti, the kingdom's top cleric, was appearing on a religious TV channel, taking questions about faith and sin and that sort of thing.  And he got one about chess.

Not one to hesitate, Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin-Abdullah al-Sheikh said chess and similar games are "forbidden" in Islam because they're a form of gambling.  He supported his statement with a verse from the Quran: "Indeed wine, gambling, idols and the divining arrows are abominations of Satan's doing, so avoid them, so that you may be felicitous." [But dressing pre-puberty boys like girls and making them dance for adult males and then sexually assaulting them with anal intercourse is just fine.]

The grand mufti called chess "a waste of time, money and a reason for the enmity between players."

The clip was posted on YouTube last month. It is unclear when it aired on TV; CNN was trying to reach the channel, Saudi station Al-Majd, for comment.

A member of the Saudi Chess Association said the group was surprised by the video but had received no formal notification, and the group is hoping for clarification.  The chess association began a two-day championship in Mecca on Friday. Another two-day tournament, the Riyadh Chess Championship, is scheduled for early June.

Twitter users reacted to the comments with humor and sarcasm. [Comments omitted.]

CNN's Hamdi Alkhshali and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.