Islam is the aspect that affects the soul, heart, body, and every section of your daily life
Before Islam, gambling was considered a social evil. When Islam came into being, ALLAH strictly prohibited ALL forms of gambling, including betting, lottery and other gambling.
Have morals evolved with the advent of sports bets and especially the multitudes of online bookmakers?
Can we bet when we're Muslim? That's all we'll see in this article
Islam's View of Sports Bets
The Koran (sacred book) of Muslims addresses the issue of money and gambling in verse 219.
According to the Prophet Muhammad, work is the only way to earn a living. Any gain in money made outside of his labour force is therefore strictly prohibited.
The prohibition of gambling in the Koran is done in stages, beginning with verse 219 of chapter 2, followed by verses 90 and 91 of chapter 5. When he discusses the wisdom of the ban on gambling, a renowned classic Koranic commentator, Al-Razi (1981), explains that among the consequences of Maysir and Qimar there is hostility, curse, disagreement among participants, prejudice to economic growth, in addition to distracting people from the remembrance of Allah (S.W.A.) and the fulfillment of daily prayers.
Another prominent Islamic scholar (Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani 1934) defines the bet as « taking one thing after another from his partner in a game » or « any game whose condition is that the winner of two competitors get something from the loser ». (Al-Shawkani 2005) defines it as a situation where there must be one player who wins and another who loses. Although there are differences in the wording used to define it, definitions generally share the common basic elements of terms.
What is the Muslim view of sports betting in modern times?
In general, in modern applications, the act of playing sometimes refers to betting on the occurrence of a future event. Another author (Al-Qurtubi 2006) mentions in his work that Malik, the founder of one of the four schools of Islamic law, divided the Maysir into two types, namely, the playful Qimar or game of chance that includes backgammon, chess and any form of game that leads to carelessness and the Qimar or game of chance in the form of a bet that includes everything a man puts in play as money or property to be lost or won.
The Malik view above assumes that all forms of games that have led to a negligent attitude are a form of play, although there is no betting element. According to Malik, the Maysir is more general than the Qimar or bets.
In short, we can say that the bet, as it was included in the Muslim scholarship, contains two important features. First, it is a kind of game without a serious goal or advantage and second, it involves the bet element where the participants put their bet into play by which only one part will win the entire bet while the other will lose everything. (Muhammed Ibn Zakariyya Al-Razi 1981) quoted a different point of view of Al-Shafi`i (RA), the founder of the Shafi`i School of Islamic Law, according to which if the games do not involve betting, and do not lead to any form of sin, then they are not illegal and are not included in the meaning of Maysir or gambling since prohibited gambling involves giving or taking money or property. (al Razi) This means that according to the views of Al-Shafi-i, games of chance occur only when the exchange of goods is involved and if there is no exchange of goods involved, there is no game of chance although it can be banned for different reasons.
Therefore (Al-Mahalli 1956), a lawyer from the 13th century Al-Shafis I school, says that the bets or gambling that are forbidden are those whose participants are in the condition of losing everything or winning everything. After examining the views of scholars on the interpretation of the prohibition of gambling in the verses of the Qur'an and prophetic traditions, it can be concluded that games of chance, which have been the subject of debate among Islamic scholars, are presented in one form or another. First, gambling in the form of bets.
This form consists of three main elements, namely that the participant gains or loses, that it involves bets on goods and transfers of goods through bets. Second, gambling in the form of a futile game that pushes people to neglect their responsibilities, although they do not involve betting on goods. Islam prohibits both types of gambling, as Islamic scholars agree. However, most scientists are of the opinion that games that do not involve any form of betting and that do not lead to neglect of responsibilities and hostilities between people are not prohibited.
Conclusion
Even though centuries have passed since the appearance of the Koran, sports bets remain prohibited in countries where the Muslim religion dominates. Indeed, the easy money ratio, the winning/losing ratio remains a barrier to the development of sports bets in this religion. It should be noted, however, that some countries such as Nigeria, where Islam is the main religion, have countless betters.
