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Does the prohibition of games involving dice disappear if dice are completely dispensed with during play?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Playing backgammon (Nard) is forbidden according to the majority of jurists because it relies on luck and conjecture, not on skill and intellect. Therefore, merely changing the playing instrument does not alter its ruling. The evidence for its prohibition is the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Whoever plays backgammon (nardshir), it is as if he has dipped his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig," and "Whoever plays backgammon (nard), he has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger." The Shafi'is justified this prohibition by stating that it relies on conjecture, which leads to foolishness. Everything that relies on conjecture is analogous to backgammon.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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