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The sections of this article are:
1- Is gambling allowed in Islam?
2- Muslims should build a personal friendship and relationship with Allah Almighty.
3- Conclusion.
Let us look at the following Noble Verses from the Noble Quran:
"They ask thee concerning wine and gambling. Say: "In
them is great sin, and some profit, for men; but the sin is greater than the profit."
They ask thee how much they are to spend; Say: "What is beyond your needs." Thus
doth God Make clear to you His Signs: In order that ye may consider- (The Noble Quran, 2:219)"
"O ye who believe! Intoxicants and gambling, (dedication of)
stones, and (divination by) arrows, are an abomination,- of Satan's handwork: eschew
such (abomination), that ye may prosper. Satan's plan is (but) to
excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder
you from the remembrance of God, and from prayer: will ye not then abstain?
(The Noble Quran, 5:90-91)"
As we clearly see from the above Noble Verses, Allah Almighty considered gambling as
the work of Satan. Satan is very tempting. Many times we humans can not resist
his temptations from doing evil things in life, such as illegal sex, alcohol, bribery, mistreatment of other people,
etc....
Allah Almighty commanded us to stay away from gambling in Noble Verse 5:90; "Eschew such(abomination), That y may prosper." If
any Muslim has any respect for Allah Almighty, then he/she should obey His Holy Commands
so that he/she may prosper.
Some people claim that they gamble just for fun and don't spend a lot of money. I
believe that such people are doing a great sin, because they are not avoiding gambling,
but instead they are using it for entertainment. This may eventually drag them to
become addicted to gambling and lose so much money on it, especially since they are
gaining a "great sin" from it anyway. My
advise to such people is to seek forgiveness from Allah Almighty and to not go back to the
casinos and gambling again, or else they may not "prosper"
and end up losing much of their money.
Now some people argue that they go to Las Vegas for instance like once every two years,
and spend a couple of hundred of dollars on gambling for entertainment and then go home
without really wasting a great deal of money on it, which then to them it makes it not
really sinful in Islam. So in other words, they spend few hundred of dollars (say
600 for the sake of argument) every two years or every once in a great while on gambling.
My response to them is that although Allah Almighty said that there is some profit for
gambling in Noble Verse 2:219, but it's sin is greater. So, even if this small
amount of money spent every two years is not really that harmful to their budget, but they
are still gaining a "great sin" according to the
same Noble Verse just for practicing it.
Today Muslims should set the example for all of Mankind. I believe non-Muslims
expect a lot of morals from Muslims. That is why they attach Islam to every Good and
Evil thing that is done from Muslims, because they think that we live our lives 100% by
the laws of Islam.
So, when Muslims go frequently to casinos, then they are not really helping themselves
to allow Allah Almighty to help them "prosper", and
they are not giving the good impression about Islam.
Muslims should build a personal friendship and
relationship with Allah Almighty:
We have to understand that Islam is not all about fearing Allah Almighty. Yes of
course we have to fear Him, but Islam is also about respecting Allah Almighty and building
that personal friendship and relationship with Him. If you respect Allah Almighty
and respect His likes and dislikes in life, then He will become your personal friend, and
He will always be there for you to make you feel better through His Holy Spirit, and to inspire you to make the right things
and decisions:
"Who can be better in religion than one who submits his
whole self to God, does good, and follows the way of Abraham the true in Faith? For
God did take Abraham for a friend. (The
Noble Quran, 4:125)"
"(O Muslims) Your (real) friends are Allah,
His Messenger [Muhammad], and the (Fellowship Of) Believers, those who establish regular
prayers and regular charity, and they bow down humbly (in worship). (The Noble Quran, 5:55)"
How can a person be a gambler and Allah Almighty's friend at the same time? It's
impossible. So until we change what's inside of us and make ourselves better people
in everything we do to please Allah Almighty with our righteous work, Allah Almighty will
never help us, because He said:
"Because God will never change the grace which He hath
bestowed on a people until they change what is in their (own) souls: and verily God is He
Who heareth and knoweth (all things). (The Noble Quran,
8:53)"
Conclusion:
Gambling is a bad thing and Satan's work, because it causes the person to gain a "great sin" and to not "prosper".
Allah Almighty commanded the Muslims to stay away from it. If a Muslim wishes
to build a personal friendship and relationship with Allah Almighty, then he/she must
thrive to do righteousness and to always be the best example to both Muslims and
non-Muslims.
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