Letter [to Muhammad-Hasan Qadiri]

In the Name of God, the compassionate, the Merciful
His Eminence Imam Khomeini- may his benign existence endure:
With greetings, salutations and respect, recently there have been two replies to queries [istifta'], one of which concerns about the buying and selling of amusement instruments and in reply to it, it is stated that there is no problem to buy and sell" common" [mushtarakah] instruments with the intention of making use of its religiously permitted benefits. In the other (case), it is assumed in the question that today chess has totally lost its being a gambling instrument and it is used only as a mental game, and in reply to it, it is stated that as in the above case, if no gambling is involved, there is no problem. And according to a certain trustworthy man, in some of the newspapers," As in the above case" is not written.
Here, there are questions to be posed.
1. Buying and selling" common" instruments have no problem unless there is the intention of making use of its unlawful benefits. Thus, why in the reply to the first question" lawful intention" is mentioned?
2. In the second question, what is the basis of the questioner in claiming that today chess has totally lost its being a gambling instrument and it is used only as a mental game?
3. Here is a reliable narration from among the tacit approvals of Imam Sadiq (`a):
" First: The Messenger of Allah (s) said:" Forbidden for you are[ az-zafn ]and [al-mazmar] as well as [al-kawbat] and [al-kibrat].
Second: The Messenger of Allah (s) prohibited the playing of chess"
Az-zafn means dancing (reference: Majma` al-Bahrayn) while al-mazmar is a term that absolutely includes flute while the prohibition of the Prophet (on playing chess) is the proof for its prohibition unless there is a contrary proof. And both of them have absolute basis.
Therefore, I beg to argue that to play on a flute is unlawful whether flute is a" special" instrument or a" common" instrument while playing chess is unlawful whether gambling is involved or not. Dispensing dispute needs a proper origin which is not feasible and what can possibly be said is the like of overpowering or preponderance at that time which is not a proper origin. Of course, as far as I am concerned, for the reasons of inquiry I referred to your writings but I found no absolute proof contrary to the mentioned ones. The proofs of route and play compared to the instruments have no inconsistency with what is absolutely accepted, and an explicit reason is not also in the proofs. At any rate, in my opinion, it is better if the holy presence of Your Eminence is away from this kind of issues and no need for their publication can be seen. Otherwise, it depends on what you deemed fitting. I do apologize for daring and I beseech God, the Exalted, to grant longevity to Your Eminence. May God's peace, mercy and blessings be upon you.
Muhammad-Hasan Qadiri]
In His Most Exalted Name
His Eminence Hujjat al-Islam Aqa Qadiri- may his graces last:
After greetings, before treating the two questions and their answers, I express my regret for your understanding of the narrations and divine laws. Based on your writing, zakat is only for the uses of the poor and other affairs, which are mentioned, and since the uses have reached hundreds of their opposites, there is no way, and rihan [betting] in sabq «1» and rimayah [shooting] is specific for bow and arrow and horse-riding and the like, which had been used in wars in the past, and today, it is only for such cases. As Anfal, «2» has been lawful for the Shi`ah, today the Shi`ah, without any restriction, can also destroy the forests by means of such-and-such machines, eliminate that which causes the preservation and wellbeing of the environment and posing a threat the lives of millions of people, yet nobody has the right to stop them. The houses and mosques along the roads should not be destroyed although doing so is needed for solving traffic problems and saving thousands of lives, not to mention similar cases. In summary, on the basis of your understanding of the narratives and traditions, the new civilization should be obliterated and the people be slum-dwellers or always live in the desert.
Now, concerning the two questions, the first of which is about playing chess wherein its being a means of gambling is totally absent, I have to ask you to refer to the book, Jami` al-Madarik [Compendium of Documents] of the late Ayatullah Haj Sayyid Ahmad Khwansari in which playing chess without the involvement of gambling is considered permissible. It erases all reasons for concern in such a manner that the level of his prudence and piety as well as the degree of his knowledge and accuracy of opinion are known. However, what you have written," What is the basis of the questioner in claiming that today chess has totally lost its being a gambling instrument?" is surprising to have come from you because the questions and answers are hypothetical. Thus, what I have answered is in the stated assumption, which has seemingly nothing wrong and in case of the absence of winning, they should not play. More surprising is what you have written," Why instead of `there should be no unlawful intention' `lawful intention' is written'?" One would say that the act of an attentive and harbinger person can be done even without the intention; in that case, `lawful intention' is equivalent to the absence of `unlawful intention'.
Regarding the case of buying and selling" common" instruments for lawful intention, you have made a blunder in thinking that buying and selling for lawful benefits means unlawful utilization and this is contrary to what has been written. Of course, in this context there are many issues which my condition and time do not permit me to tackle. It was unexpected of you, who are an educated and hard-working person, to have such an understanding and attribute it to Islam. You yourself know that I am fond of you and consider you as an important person, but I give you a fatherly advice to strive to pay attention to God only and not to be influenced by the sanctimonious and ignorant akhounds. It is because if, by announcing and publishing the ruling of God, my status and position are undermined as far as the sanctimonious ones and the ignorant akhounds are concerned, let it be undermined more. I pray to God, the Exalted, for your success in serving Islam and the Muslims as in the past. May God's peace and mercy be upon you.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini
Mehr 2,1367 AHS