Why has Islam forbidden card games?

Islam has prohibited playing cards for the following reasons:

1. Wasting time on things that are not beneficial.

2. Their inclusion of the concept of gambling, resembling the prohibited dice (backgammon), and due to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Whoever plays backgammon is as if he had dyed his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig."

3. Their inclusion of images of animate beings.

4. The animosity, hatred, cheating, and deception that occur among players.

5. Their distraction from the remembrance of Allah and prayer, contradicting the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Everything that is not the remembrance of Allah is amusement and play, except for four things: a man playing with his wife, a man training his horse, a man walking between two targets (archery practice), and a man teaching himself to swim." And contradicting his saying: "No people rise from a gathering in which they do not remember Allah except that they rise as if from the carcass of a donkey, and it will be a cause of regret for them."

A number of scholars have issued fatwas regarding their prohibition.