Source: Fatāwā ʿIlmiyyah (Tawḍīḥ al-Aḥkām), Vol. 2, p. 507
Question:
What is the Islamic ruling regarding listening to the commentary of a match or game on the radio?
Answer:
Al-ḥamdu lillāh, waṣ-ṣalātu was-salāmu ʿalā Rasūlillāh, ammā baʿd!
From the Sharʿī perspective, listening to sports commentary on radio or watching matches on television has been declared impermissible due to the following reasons:
Reasons for the Prohibition of Watching or Listening to Games:
◈ Immodesty and Indecency:
Most of these games involve immodesty and indecent acts. Men and women look at one another without any Sharʿī justification or necessity, and often there is nudity involved.
◈ Presence of Music:
During matches, music (maʿāzif) and other condemnable and prohibited activities are present.
◈ Wastage of Time:
People become so engrossed in watching or listening to games that they neglect Ṣalāh and their religious duties, leading to moral decline.
◈ Element of Gambling:
Many such games involve gambling, which is strictly prohibited in Sharīʿah.
◈ Considered as Laghw (Futile Entertainment):
These pursuits are counted as lahw wa laʿib in Islamic law, which is not permissible.
◈ Emotional Extremism:
Some people make the winning or losing of their favorite team a matter of life and death, and in extreme cases, even commit suicide over defeat.
Ḥadīth of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ:
The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
«وَكُلُّ مَا يَلْهُو بِهِ الْمُسْلِمُ بَاطِلٌ، إِلَّا رَمْيَهُ بِقَوْسِهِ، وَتَأْدِيبَهُ فَرَسَهُ، وَمُلَاعَبَتَهُ امْرَأَتَهُ، فَإِنَّهُنَّ مِنَ الْحَقِّ»
“Every pastime by which a Muslim becomes distracted (from obedience to Allāh) is void, except for his shooting with his bow, training his horse, and playing with his wife — for these are from the truth.”
(Sunan Ibn Mājah: 2811, Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1637, and al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.)
Grading of the Ḥadīth:
◈ This narration is ḥasan li-dhātih.
◈ Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr narrated it in Musnad Aḥmad (Vol. 4, p. 144) with confirmed hearing.
◈ The narrator al-Azraq has been declared thiqah and ṣadūq by:
- Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥibbān
- Imām al-Ḥākim (2/95)
- Imām al-Dhahabī
- al-Haythamī (Majmaʿ al-Zawāʾid, 4/329)
- and other muḥaddithīn.
Conclusion:
In light of the above evidences and aḥādīth, listening to sports commentary on the radio — just like watching the match — is not permissible in Sharīʿah.
ھذا ما عندي، والله أعلم بالصواب
