This influential, popular imam and Turkish Islamic TV preacher condemns chess and scientific space advancements, classing them with other things he considers sins, such as gambling and oral sex. It’s likely because intellectual pursuits will challenge his backward and supremacist ideology.
This is the same imam whom Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife visited two and a half years ago to get his blessing before the presidential elections.
“Playing chess is more sinful than gambling: Muslim televangelist,” Hürriyet Daily News, January 2, 2017:
Turkish televangelist Ahmet Mahmut Ünlü, popularly known as “Cübbeli” Ahmet Hoca (Robed Ahmet Hoca), has raised eyebrows by claiming that playing chess is more sinful than gambling, daily Hürriyet reported on Jan. 2.
Ünlü said chess players were “cursed” and claimed that “most people who played chess are liars.”
“Playing chess is worse than gambling and eating pork … People who play chess are more prone to lying than others. People who play chess may not say the shahada [declaration of Islamic belief] while they are dying,” he said.
“People who play chess are cursed … You should count your prayer beads instead…”
Ünlü had hit headlines on Nov. 14 in 2014 by condemning the European Space Agency’s (ESA) successful landing of the Philae probe on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, describing the mission as “maniacal.”
More recently, he waded into a debate on the religious permissiveness of oral sex, slamming a colleague for describing it as religiously forbidden and saying there is no such ban in Islam.

Veka Fitzfrancis says
So chess, a strategy game taught to young Ottoman nobles with the purpose of teaching them war techniques to increase the size of the caliphate, is sinful?
Is there nothing in Islam that is fun that doesn’t involve killing people you disagree with, or raping people?
Keith Gilbert says
Uh…no, but then you did ask!
Veka Fitzfrancis says
LOL
Touché
AllahuAkbar says
Ironically, Muslims also take credit for inventing chess (which was actually invented in India).
LB says
Same as algebra. Only the name is Arabic, the actual science was invented in India.
FYI says
muslims love to claim they invented everything.I’ll bet they would love to claim they
invented the Moon,Dinosaurs and Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity.
Recently,some professor at an Egyptian university claimed for example that military marching bands and personal hygiene were muslim inventions.Erm,I don’t think so.
That would more likely be the Greeks and the Romans.The Spartans certainly used musical bands in battle and of course the Romans were famous for their baths,long before muslims ever existed.But we mustn’t let facts get in the way of a good islamic yarn.
A muslim once told me that Jesus Christ was..a muslim…
I’m still laughing at that one.
Given that the koran denies Christ,ridicules the Trinity and is violently anti-Jewish,I can’t honestly see how Jesus could possibly agree with islam/mahomet/the koran.
I’d say that Jesus Christ is a sort of Checkmate to islam but then they might not get the chess reference.
Star says
They claime Jesus was a muslim and kill christians because they lobe Jesus, how and however they always find a reason to kill and to harm people. No conscience, moral sense, no thinking, no joy always judging other people and killing them who are not believers enough .how horrible is that!
Avenger says
@LB
Algebra was first used by the Babylonians and then the Greeks.
It was also discovered-used independently from the above in China and India. The earliest known use was by Babylonians.
Star says
Common sense and conscience zero, that is the oroblem with that peopel
Star says
No conscience at all by that brainless people, dangerous
BC says
We already know that Muslim clerics are uneducated fools who make things up all the time.sun revolves around the earth, in the 21st century no less! One claimed the Any body who spends their whole life with their nose buried in a ‘holy’ book cannot be expected to be or capable of critical thought. The same also applies to the bible. We see proof of that every time the pope opens his mouth.
BC says
It should read: We already know that Muslim clerics are uneducated fools who make things up all the time. One stated the sun revolves around the earth, in the 21st century no less! Any body who spends their whole life with their nose buried in a ‘holy’ book cannot be expected to be erudite or capable of critical thought. The same also applies to the bible. We see proof of that every time the pope opens his mouth.
The awful thing is they are believed by people even more ignorant than they are
Anne Smith says
Was it not Erdogan who claimed that Muslims were the first people to go to the Moon?
Rob says
“…Was it not Erdogan who claimed that Muslims were the first people to go to the Moon?”
Mohammad was the first; and it didn’t cost the billion$ which NASA spent.
All it took was a winged horse – ask Mehdi Hasan
Carolyne says
This guy must be a sore loser, never having got the hang of chess.
skep says
He knows chess players are smart and don’t believe all the islamic BS
Frank Cicero says
He only said that because he is too stupid to play the game.
Keith Gilbert says
Ah, the wisdom of a mongrel pusher of lies preaching to other mongrel kin…all of it rubbish written for the pedophile prophet for the payment of money to Jewish & Christian scribes…for nothing is sacred when there is enough gold offered and everyone is hungry.
EmHotep says
He is one of Erdogan’s advisors !!!
gravenimage says
EmHotep, here’s a picture of them together:
http://i.sabah.com.tr/sbh/2016/02/15/1455528855148.jpg
Astonishing in the West that a world leader would be “advised” by such a backward fool.
EmHotep says
He is also a pervert 🙂
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C1M99BgWIAAgMi0.jpg
Rob says
“…Astonishing in the West that a world leader would be “advised” by such a backward fool…”
Well… that’s an astonishing statement.
Sure – the Imam’s backward; and holds stupid ideas, but let’s not forget that Mr Obama took advice from Al Sharpton, who’s just as stupid – only via another hypocritical religious route; and George W Bush got regular morning prayer- and advice calls from Ted Haggard – another hypocrite-Christian.
In fact, nearly every president – including Clinton and Nixon – whenever a scandal emerged in his life, would be “saved” by the appearance- and “prayers” of Billy Graham – another of the many charlatan god-chatters…
Islam has poisoned those who’ve dipped into it or immersed themselves (most immersion is forced indoctrination of children), but you’d have difficulty explaining how Islamic indoctrination is different from Christian indoctrination, except that Christianity is less violent today than it was before secularism pulled its teeth; and made it the “Gentle Jesus” kind of sop it usually is today…
They have exactly the same methodology; and the same ultimate goal – subjugation of the “believer”, and his/her submission to religious authority.
Champ says
“People who play chess are more prone to lying than others.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
People who pray to allah are more prone to lying than others …
Angemon says
Took the words right out of my mouth 🙂
gravenimage says
Spot on, Champ: “Allah is the best of deceivers”.
skep says
People who pray to allah are wasting time as he is non existent entity.
jewdog says
He still sounds better than Reverend Wright.
PRCS says
Uh, well, er…..maybe.
Keith Gilbert says
Just two slices of of the same ham/hog!
Northern Virginiastan says
That hatred of chess comes from the Sunnah: See https://sunnah.com/search/?q=chess
ECAW says
Thanks. That is a handy search facility. Here is one for the Koran if you haven’t come across it:
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/k/koran/
gravenimage says
True, NV.
mgoldberg says
And apparently slaughtering people who do disagree with you is permissible if it’s to support mo’s law.
And apparently slaughtering those with disagree with you is heavenly, and worthy of respect and honor…
And apparently we others, all, need to understand such experts in Islam, and of Islam and of Islam that it is a utopian tyranny, that is dangerous to others health with no regard for their being.
Infidel from Down Under says
The fact there have only been in total just six muslim Nobel Laureates since the inception of the awards ,one of which was a joke anyway -Yasser Arafat’s Peace Prize, says an awful lot about the intellectual contribution (or lack of more like ) muslims have to made to make the world a better place
gravenimage says
Yes–and most of the handful of Muslims who did win prizes in substantive fields such as hard science were anything but mainstream Muslims–a “heretical” Ahmadi in one instance, and virtual apostates in several other cases.
Max Publius says
Not to mention most if not all of these nominal Muslims did their prize work in Western democracies, i.e., not in one of 50+ perverted and corrupt “Islamic states”.
marina says
Every time I hear of a certain thing forbidden by Islam I come to think that this might be the last one. But no. There is no dearth of brain dead muslems coming up with something ridiculous.
Muhammad's pink swastika says
Reza Aslan is getting his own CNN TV show!?! Dude is an Islamic jihadist propagandist. The media is the enemy of the American people. I don’t mean in an ideological sense, they are traitors. They give aid and comfort to the enemy, and they deserve to be treated like hostile combatants of patriotic Americans.
gravenimage says
Popular Muslim TV preacher: “People who play chess are cursed”
……………………..
Yes: anything involving reasoning–even a game–is forbidden by the intellectually arid creed of Islam. No wonder pious Muslims are incapable of rational thought. *Ugh*.
PRCS says
Oh, c’mon, now.
You know there’s no fun in Islam.
Aardvark says
The main reason mohammedans are incapable of rational thought is more to do with the hundreds of generations of marrying first cousins. This has led to the current situation where the average IQ in mohammedan countries is twenty points below that in the civilized West.
See here for exact figures: http://alturl.com/f7ks8
Of course, being intellectually challenged would tend to make you less than keen on any game like chess…
Muhammad's pink swastika says
Wasn’t chess invented in Iran? Or was it India? I forget.
davej says
Islamic sins: Music, having a dog, playing chess, eating bacon, scientific inquiry, drinking a beer or drawing a picture of Mo.
Non-Islamic sins: murder, rape, slavery, terror attacks.
Islamic joys and religious duties – see non-Islamic sins above.
It is hard to take them seriously, but they are deadly serious, which is why they are so dangerous.
gravenimage says
Spot on, dave.
Lesley says
I look forward to oral sex after a nice game of chess in my space suit, and I dream of a world without Islam 😉
gravenimage says
🙂
miriamrove says
Can one get any more backwards than this? M
Guest says
What’s wrong with chess? Is it because it’s a game for intelligent people and not blind followers?
Mirren10 says
”What’s wrong with chess? Is it because it’s a game for intelligent people and not blind followers?”
Probably.
It might also be because a lot of chess pieces are representational of humans and animals – the kings and queens, the bishops, and the knights. We have one that’s like the chess pieces in Alice Through the Looking Glass. 🙂
Saycheese says
Chess is sometimes played for money. Islam considers it a gambling game.
After the revolution in Iran, chess was forbidden. An Iranian chessmaster told me stories of tournaments organized in warehouses with someone on the lookout for the religious police. Playing chess was, and perhaps still is, forbidden in Afghanistan.
Jack says
Muslims are cursed with the idiocy gene.
Buford says
He does not like chess but Molesting Kids, Drinking Camel Urine, & Cutting off people’s heads is great entertainment what a Sicko
CogitoErgoSum says
This just shows what a steaming pile of garbage Muhammad was. He condemned chess as being immoral and a waste of time yet he thought it was perfectly fine for a man in his 50’s to have sex with a little girl not yet 10 years old. Those who would consider such a man to be a prophet sent by God must have rocks for brains.
bleeps says
Hahahaha! “Cübbeli” is a nickname given from mythology, haram a womans name!
Cybele is an Anatolian mother goddess – Wikipedia
The historical proof of his nickname from Odriss Kingdom source seems to point some irony towards the male imam nicknamed “Cybele”
DFD says
Hmh, wonder why. A bit like dogs, isn’t it. They didn’t like him, there was a small black dog in Particular in Mecca, the little critter had it in for him – since then dogs in Islam are…
Probably the same Mohammed who was a few times badly beaten by some other members of his tribe, the Quraish, at chess. He hated them, not because he lost, but because it showed that they evidently were helped by the devil. Well, that’s an explanation – by Mohammed.
Leads to a question, what happens when a Muslim loses a chess tournament, poor winner; fatwa!
davej says
The truly cursed are the Muslims who believe this shiite and spend their pitiable lives as demonic would-be enforcers of such garbage.
2017 – the year the West wakes up from it’s grand delusion about Islam.
Max Publius says
To those who think this imamster is against blowjobs, if you read it carefully, he’s for a good blowjob (but his fellow imam isn’t, meaning grounds for more internecine jihad), but he’s against chess:
“More recently, he waded into a debate on the religious permissiveness of oral sex, slamming a colleague for describing it as religiously forbidden and saying there is no such ban in Islam.”
bernie says
What about getting blown and rimmed by a beautiful consenting adult woman while playing chess…thatvwouldnt be haram
abad says
Either one of two things, possibly both:
1. Chess teaches its players how to think;
2. May be associated with gambling.
The game originated either in China or India, spread to Persia (where the game is called shatranj). Chess requires a high level of strategical thinking, something non-existent in Islam (not to mention forbidden in Islam).
That is my guess as to why this loon “thinks” chess is worse than alcohol or gambling.
Pigs be upon Him says
looks like he got beat
Wellington says
Indicating that Islam may actually be laughed out of existence before it is forcefully eradicated from the human condition. Outcome still in doubt.
somehistory says
It has been my life-long practice to tell the truth. I would never, under any circumstances utter what I have learned is the *declaration* concerning that evil filth, islam. ( I was uninformed when once I did endeavor to say the arabic words, not knowing and being mislead as to what they meant…I didn’t do a good job…mangled them fairly badly…Thanks be to my God!)
And yet, I have played chess. I’m not fond of it, but have played. If that fool wants to curse me, he may feel free. It won’t bother me in any way whatsoever.
and he sure is ugly…inside and out.
don vito says
Must the planet be shared with such people? Leave my chess alone.
Champ says
And of course the Queen is the strongest piece in the game of chess; and mohammedans are misogynistic, so they can’t have that …
G. says
Clearly he is confused.He really means chests, so those immigrants that have groped women in Europe are now in big trouble
bernie says
Or else he means “Cheese” because many infidels love cheese.
Rob says
“…Or else he means “Cheese” because many infidels love cheese…”
Blessed are the cheesemakers…. LifeOfBrian
f c king says
But it still OK. perfectly Muhammad-like to “thigh” little girls less than 10, and have sex with little dancing boys dressed like girls ? This man is an example of inbreeding to muslim tribesmam perfection. He just may have muhammad himself rubbing his chest on his back-side in paradise.
ElderlyZionist says
Indeed, chess is the game of the Jews and the Masons, it is haram! But backgammon is hallal and pleasing to Allah. And Allah is the best dice roller.
TH says
With a nutcase like him influencing people, what can we expect from Turkey these days?
Yesenia says
What an idiot….. WOW I am speechless….
David says
nothing to do with the fact that it requires something called intelligence…
David says
nothing to do with the fact that it requires something called intelligence…