Ruling on the Ramadan soccer league

Praise be to Allah.

What the believer should do is to make the most of special occasions and worship his Lord a great deal at those times. One of the greatest of these occasions is the month of Ramadaan. 

How great are the acts of worship that a Muslim does in Ramadaan, which bring a great reward. 

Ramadaan is the month of fasting, praying at night, reading Qur’aan, remembering Allaah (dhikr), making du’a’, doing ‘umrah, giving iftar to those who are fasting, giving charity, and being kind and generous to the needy. It is the month of i’tikaaf and turning away from this world and turning to Allaah, and striving in worship. 

The virtues of Ramadaan are too many to name, and too well-known to need to be mentioned here. 

Every night in Ramadaan Allaah has those whom He ransoms from the Fire. In it the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are shut, and the devils are chained up.  There are many means of forgiveness in this month, such as fasting, qiyaam al-layl and spending the night of Laylat al-Qadr in prayer. The one who is truly deprived is the one who is deprived of the goodness of this month, and the one who is truly a loser is the one who has not been forgiven by the end of this month.  

If a person is not forgiven in Ramadaan, when will he be forgiven?! 

If he does not turn to Allaah in Ramadaan, when will he turn to Him?! 

Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “May his nose be rubbed in the dust, a man for whom Ramadaan comes and then goes before he is forgiven.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3545; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi. 

If he does not make the most of his time and fill it with worship of Allaah in this month, when will he do that?! 

In Ramadaan the Muslim moves from one act of worship to another, from prayer to reading Qur’aan to reciting tasbeeh and tahleel, from offering iftar to those who are fasting to praying qiyaam al-layl and tahajjud to repentance  and praying for forgiveness in the moments before dawn… etc. 

In question 26869 we have presented a suggested schedule for the Muslim in Ramadaan. 

When can a believer find time to waste in this blessed month? By Allaah, if time could be bought the wise man would spend all he has to buy it. Time is a person’s life and will certainly come to an end. Some people spend their lives obeying Allaah and some spend their lives obeying the Shaytaan and their own whims and desires. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) indeed spoke the truth when he said: “Every person is striving for himself and selling his soul, so he will ransom himself or doom himself.” Narrated by Muslim, 223. 

What this means is that every person is striving; some of them strive for the sake of Allaah by worshipping and obeying Him, so they save themselves from punishment, and some strive for the Shaytaan by following their own whims and desires, so they are doomed. This was the view of al-Nawawi. 

The least that can be said concerning these games with regard to this month is that they are a waste of time. There is nothing more precious to a person than his time for it is his life. 

Moreover, why should Ramadaan be singled out for these games? Why not do them in Sha’baan or Rajab or Shawwaal? 

Why is Ramadaan singled out for soap operas and other programming offered by TV channels, so that for many people Ramadaan has become a month of soccer, TV shows and staying up late etc? 

These people are negligent of the reason why Allaah enjoined fasting in the month of Ramadaan, which is so that people may attain taqwa (piety) as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“O you who believe! Observing As-Sawm (the fasting) is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)”

[al-Baqarah 2:183]

What do they know about taqwa, which means obeying Allaah and refraining from that which Allaah has forbidden? 

The believer should be wise and firm with himself, he should not follow his whims and desires lest he regret it at the time when regret will be to no avail. 

May his nose be rubbed in the dust, the man who wastes his time in Ramadaan with idle leisure and nights spent doing things other than worshipping Allaah, until Ramadaan ends and he has only increased in sin and being far away from Allaah. 

We ask Allaah to set the affairs of the Muslims straight and to bring them back to their religion.  May He cause us to live until Ramadaan comes and help us to obey Him and worship Him properly, and accept our worship from us, for He is Ever Near and Ever Responsive.