Chapter on the Legal Punishment for Drinking Alcohol and Reports Regarding Singing and Amusements

Imam Jafar ibn Muhammad Al-Sadiq عليه السلام was asked about the saying of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Majestic: "So avoid the filth of idols and avoid false speech." (Surah Al-Hajj 22:30) Imam عليه السلام said: "The filth of idols refers to chess, and false speech refers to singing. And backgammon (nard) is worse than chess. As for chess, adopting it is disbelief, playing it is polytheism, teaching it is a grave and destructive sin, greeting someone engaged in it is disobedience, and touching its pieces is like touching the flesh of swine. Looking at it is like looking at the private parts of one's mother. The one who plays backgammon with gambling is like one who eats the flesh of swine, and the one who plays it without gambling is like one who places his hand in the flesh or blood of swine. It is not permissible to play with rings, the fourteen stones, and similar games, as all of them are forms of gambling, even if children play with nuts, it is considered gambling. Beware of striking the stones together (a form of entertainment), for indeed, Satan runs along with you, and the angels flee from you. And whoever keeps a tambourine in his house for forty days "has incurred the wrath of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Majestic."