Ruling on playing, buying, and selling video games
11-1-2016 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum. I have three questions all connected to each other. My questions are about video games. Ever since my childhood, all my siblings, including me, have been addicted to video games and have spent a lot of our time and money on video games till date.
My first question is whether spending time and money on video games and such activities from which neither your body nor your brain benefit is haram or not?
My second question refers to the first question. If its haram to spend time and money on video games or any such activity in which neither your body nor brain benefit, then what should I do with the video games that I have ? I have video games on CDs and consoles on which I spent lot of money. Can I sell it if keeping it is haram, or must I destroy all of it?
My third question refers to the second question. In the case that keeping my video games and console is allowed, then if tomorrow, may Allaah not make it so, I die and my siblings or whoever plays with these games, would I then be accountable for their sins of playing with my video games and consoles? And in case selling all of my video games and consoles is allowed, then after selling all of it to others, would I be accountable for their sins for playing my sold video games to them? I will wait for your kind reply with a fatwa. May Allaah reward you.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
If these video games are permissible (involve no religious violations), then there is no harm in playing them, spending money on them, and enabling your siblings to play them. It is also permissible to sell them.
However, you should not spend too much time playing them, or rather you are forbidden to do so if this leads to neglecting an obligation. We have previously explained the conditions for the permissibility of playing video games in fatwa 259372.
On the other hand, if these games are not permissible in Islam, then it is not permissible to play them, buy them, or sell them. Also, it is not permissible to enable your siblings to play them. In case it is not possible to benefit from these games in a lawful manner, then they are to be destroyed.
If the games are permissible, then you do not bear the sin of your siblings or others to whom you sell such games if they use them in disobedience towards Allaah after you die.
Nonetheless, a Muslim should utilize his time in what benefits him in his religious and worldly matters, and he should avoid being addicted to games that would consume his time, as a person will be questioned about his time, as in the hadeeth that reads, "The feet of a servant will not move on the Day of Judgment until he is questioned about his life: how he spent it…” [At-Tirmithi]
In this regard, please refer to fatwa 86533.
Allaah knows best.