Loving Electronic Sports Games Is Not Kufr
Fatwa No: 384511

Question

Alsalam alaikumif someone say he likes fifa the game did he do kufr because the game contain's shirk like the clothes and flag so by him saying that did he say indirectly kufr? another example is someone saying i like england does that mean he like's the kufr that it contain's like the flag and so on ? or does it depend on intention ?

Answer

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Muslim does not go out of the fold of Islam just because he loves electronic sports games, even if there are signs of disbelief on the players' clothes, or flags of some countries that may contain some of the slogans of Kufr (disbelief), such as the cross and so on. Additionally, a Muslim does not go out of the fold of Islam because of loving a non-Muslim country for an acceptable reason, like the existence of order in it, or for its good weather, for example, provided he is not content with the disbelief they are upon. His intention here is considerable.

It should be mentioned here that if a person’s Islam is confirmed with certainty, it cannot be overruled from him except with similar certainty. Indeed, the scholars are very strict about the issue of Takfeer (declaring someone as a non-Muslim) because of its seriousness, and they clarified that the Muslim may say a word of Kufr or do an act of Kufr, yet he is not judged to be a Kafir (a disbeliever) until some conditions are met while there are no impediments for declaring him as such.

For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 8106 and 87963.

It should also be noted that the time of a Muslim is precious and it should not be wasted in games that may not be of great benefit to him. Rather, their disadvantages may be dominant over their advantages. So, the games distract him from the remembrance of Allah and the prayer, and from fulfilling what is more beneficial for him in his religious and worldly matters.

The Muslim youth should be heedful of this as the Muslim nation needs them.

Allah knows best.

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