['Aalim Network QR] Playing Professional Sports

[Mustafa Rawji <mrawji@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>]

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|       In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the All-Merciful       |\
|  Greeting of Allah be upon Muhammad and the pure members of his House |\
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Salamun alaykum,

	The reply to the following question was kindly provided by Shaykh
Rasheed.

Wasalaam,

Mustafa Rawji
Moderator, 'Aalim Network

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QUESTION:

With regards to not doing things that waste time, what is the ruling about
other sports and what about people who make a career out of it?  Does it
mean that all earning from a career of sports is also Haram?  Please
explain in detail. 


ANSWER:

Regarding sports, there are people who think that all sports are a waste of
time and dismiss everything associated with it. What is a waste of time is
somewhat of a personal judgment. I personally feel that if a person can
make a decent living playing a sport which is not objectionable from the
point of view of Islamic Law, the person is not wasting his/her time but
earning a living. Maybe the person's contribution of society is minimal (in
some people's view) but maybe in other's view the contribution of CPA's,
artists and salespersons are also minimal, but it's a living. 

Sometimes, we put down sports because our youth become fascinated with it
and entertain high hopes of becoming another Michael Jordan, for example,
and set aside their academic goals for the lower goals of sports. This is
natural due to the great deal of exposure, respect and honor that athletes
receive in our society along with other types of entertainers. We shouldn't
discourage sports among our youth since it does hold great advantages for
them, but at the same time, we should emphasize that, as a profession,
sports is one of the most select professions around. There are only a very
few sports professions as compared to any other field while the competition
is more fierce than in any other field. When you add this up, it means a
lot of disappointments for the majority of people who entertain a career 
in sports.

Was-Salaam,

Ali Rasheed