The Support of the Needy on the Legal Ruling of Chess

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And we have wandered from our intended subject, yet this is something that those skilled in the art find delightful. Shatranj Chess was not known until after the conquests of the lands, for its origin is from India, from where it passed to the Persians. This is in contrast to Nard Backgammon, which was known among the Arabs. Ka'b spoke regarding what a meddler claimed on his behalf: that the first to play chess were Joshua son of Nun and Ghalib son of Yufna Likely Caleb (Kalab) son of Jephunneh from the Hebrew Bible, and the first to manufacture it was Qarun Korah, a figure in the Quran and Bible associated with immense wealth. The Persians learned it from Joshua son of Nun. These two—I mean Joshua and Ghalib—are the ones intended by the Almighty’s saying: “Said two men of those who feared [God, and] whom God had blessed...” Quran 5:23, referring to the two spies who encouraged the Israelites to enter the Promised Land.

I say that I came across evidence regarding the origin of chess and the unlocking of its secrets by Abu al-Tayyib Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Misri, on the authority of al-Muhibb Muhammad ibn Muhammad, through oral transmission from Ahmad ibn Ali, from Ibrahim ibn Khalil, from Ismail ibn Ali al-Hanafi. In another narration, from the two masters Abu al-Hasan the two Alis, the sons of Ahmad ibn Mansur and Ibn al-Muslim, who said: from Ahmad ibn Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abi al-Hadid, from my grandfather Abu Muhammad ibn Jafar ibn Sahl, from Hammad ibn Ishaq, the brother of Ismail ibn Ishaq the Judge, from Ismail, from Abu Uwais, who said:

I heard Malik ibn Anas The 8th-century founder of the Maliki school of Islamic law, may God be pleased with him, say: “The first to bring the Arabic script, chess, and backgammon [to us] was ‘Amr ibn al-’As The general who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt, due to his knowledge of the latter.” This was recorded by al-Daylami A famous Persian collector of Prophetic traditions (hadith) in a section he compiled regarding the merits of this perspective.