Are Extreme Sports and Other Risky Activities Allowed?

 

Are Extreme Sports and Other

 Risky Activities Allowed?

 

Shaykh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaimīn

Question:

Is it allowed to take risks or put oneself in danger as we see nowadays in some forms of extreme sports that could lead to death for those practicing them?


Answer:

[Shaikh Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ Al-ʿUthaimīn, may Allāh have mercy on him, said:]

This is prohibited [in Islam]. It is not allowed for a person to put himself in danger by way of things in which loss of life or injury are feared since Allāh, High is He above all, says:

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيمًا

And do not kill yourselves. Indeed, Allāh is Ever-Merciful with you and Caring. (Al-Nisāʾ, 29)


And if Allāh, High is He above all, has forbidden that—He said [what in English means], “Do not kill yourselves”—then, indeed, everything that leads to death or [even] leads to injury is no doubt prohibited [in Islam].


The Prophet ﷺ said: “Indeed, your blood, wealth, and honor are all, upon you, inviolable.”[1] So just as it is not permissible for a person to transgress against another, it is not permissible for him to transgress against himself by exposing himself to [activities] that contain a [risk of] death or injury.


Source: Nūr ʿalá Al-Darb, 98.


Footnotes

[1]: Narrated by Al-Bukhārī (tr.)

Translator: Mikail ibn Mahboob Ariff

Taken from https://tasfiyah.com/are-extreme-sports-and-other-risky-activities-allowed/

[To read this text translated to Spanish Language, click here]