Answer
Short Answer: There’s a difference of opinion, but most scholars say that dice are not inherently impermissible. They are only impermissible when there’s a meaning of gambling in them, or when money gets involved and you’re betting on pure chance/luck. Games in which there is otherwise skill involved and there’s no sense of gambling (like Dungeons and Dragons and the like) are generally considered permissible.
Asalamu Alaikum,
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Shaykh Faraz Rabbani from SeekersHub addresses this question in the video below.
Transcript:
So, is it permissible to play board games where dice are involved?
So, there are two positions among the ulema [religious scholars] with respect to board games where dice are involved.
Some of the ulema have considered any games which dice are involved to be from games of chance which are not permitted. That’s a precautionary opinion.
Others distinguish that games that are based on skill, and there’s no element of gambling involved in them.
So, for example, you have things like Trivial Pursuit and so on. There’s an element of skills, etc. There is no meaning of gambling in them.
Then they would permit those kinds of games, where there’s an element of skill but there’s an element of chance, as well, that is a roll of dice.
Can you play Dungeons and Dragons for example?
There’s all kinds of dice involved, right? But it’s a game of skill.
Unless you get really into it, there’s no money involved. If you bring money into it, that becomes a complicating factor.
So, [that will] get you nowhere. There’s games of skill or those games where they’re entertaining. And they’re done with restraint.
There are those who… there are many contemporary ulema who would consider those to be permitted.
So, dice are not inherently impermissible. But they’re impermissible when there’s a meaning of gambling in them.
And particularly the clearest ones are games in which there is otherwise skill involved and no meaning of gambling.
We have a number of answers related to that. You can check those out on Seekers website.
I hope this helps answer your question. You can also check out more from SeekersHub at the link here.
Walaikum Asalam. Please keep in touch.
(From AboutIslam’s archives)
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