Playing games at home

Question

Is it permissible to play games inside the home or not? For example, table tennis, carrom (a board game in which pieces are flicked into the corner pockets), badminton and the like. A friend of mine says that playing is not permissible.

Answer

A game that is not a distinctive mark (shiʿar) of the kafirs or of the sinful (fussaq), in which there is no stake of money on winning and losing, because of engagement in which acts of obedience (taʿat) are not abandoned, and in which there is nothing contrary to the Shariʿa — is permissible.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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