Question Summary:
is it permissable to work in Game development?

Question Detail:

1. Is it permissible to work in game development? 2. Is this method of earning money considered gambling?

Answer :

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.

Hereunder are the answers to your queries in sequence:

1. It is apparent from your query that there may be pictures of animate objects in the videogame. Moreover, it also appears that there is killing and violence in the game. Accordingly, such games should be avoided.[1] Apart from spiritual harm, such games may have psychological and social implications.[2]

Video games generally fall in the category of amusement (lahw) and should therefore be avoided.[3]

As far as designing and creating video games is concerned, it is permissible to do so with the following conditions:

a)     The game should not have any animate pictures.

b)    It should not have music.

c)     It should be free from any vulgar language.

d)    It should not promote immorality, corruption or evil.

e)     There should be some Shar’i benefit to the game.

2. Working as a game developer will not be considered gambling

3. There is no prohibition of putting such a feature in a game provided that there are no un-Islamic features in the game.

And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best

Abdullah Syed Sajid

Student Darul Iftaa
Houston, TX, USA 

Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.

 [1]  فتاوی دار العلوم زكريا (جلد ٧/ ص ٦٤٠) 

كتاب النوازل (جلد ١٦/ ص ٥٤٢)

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4649035/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/get-psyched/201401/violent-video-games-decrease-self-control

[3] الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين (رد المحتار) (6/ 348) 

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