Is Ludo Star Halal or Haram?

Ludo Star is one of the newest internet craze and has rightly been called the ‘rich man’s Ludo’. It is a mobile-app rendition of a board game that many have grown up playing. For many it is a reminder of the good old days whereas for others it is a cool new game that allows them to pass time - all the while being in touch with friends and people with whom you can play this game.

However, this internet sensation has allowed for a rather interesting debate to begin: is Ludo Star halal or haram? There are many controversies surrounding this game and it is time to end this debate and come to a final conclusion.

“Whoever plays with dice, it is as if he were dipping his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig” (Muslims 2260).

According to the hadith above, since Ludo Star involves the use of a dice and is a game of chance, it may as well be prohibited. There are many kinds of games and those games which make one forget their duties towards Almighty Allah are definitely a sin and prohibited in Islam.

It is important to understand that this hadith may have had a context within which it was narrated and while interpreting cases of this nature, one must always be aware of the context.

The nature of things that are considered haram in Islam is such that anything that keeps you from performing your duties (religious and otherwise), completely overshadows your thinking process and consumes too much of your time and energy and that too for no good must be considered haram. In this sense, any game that blocks your thinking faculties and enables you to indulge too much should be prohibited. Any activity that is baseless and a waste of your time – the time that should be spent remembering Allah, seeking for forgiveness and doing good – has to be at least frowned upon and rendered sinful and even haram.

However on the flipside, if the game is played in moderation it would not be as grave a sin. The idea of moderation is ever present in Islam and according to a hadith by the Holy Prophet (PBUH):

“Do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately. . .Always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course, whereby you will reach your target (of paradise)”. (Bukhari 8:470)

If we apply this hadith to all and any situation in our lives, we will come to realize that many things will not become problematic and cause hindrances in the way you should live and in your relationship with Allah Almighty. The Lord says in the Holy Quran that:

“Surely the worst of beasts in God's sight are those that are deaf and dumb and do not reason” (Quran 8:22)

If Allah has given us the faculties that allow us to reason and decipher right from wrong, then we should make full use of them. And if Ludo Star in any manner unleashes this beast in you, then one should avoid indulging themselves in this game. However the game itself is not haram if it is played with the right intentions.