Is One Allowed to Play Games Where the Character Respawns and Comes Back to Life Again?
Answered by Mawlana Ilyas Patel
Question
Is playing a game with a character that can come back to life/respawn haram and shirk? I’m playing a survival game, if I’m killed by an animal or fall from a height, I will die, but I will get revived again to my base with the same character and without losing the progress. I even can revisit my death location and take the item that I dropped in that location because of death, so it is just like being immortal.
Whenever I die, I will get revived on my base, and I think this game is not for children but for teens. Is this haram because the player can come back to life infinitely?
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate
Video games are virtual games, not realistic. Therefore characters being killed and
respawned are all set in a virtual world. One must play games devoid of obscene content, violence, and gambling. See the links below for a further understanding of the importance of time and video game playing.
Alhamdulillah, we are blessed with ample time and modern conveniences to use it efficiently. Let’s increase this blessing by working hard to use it in ways most pleasing to Allah Most High, taking advice from our local scholars, family, and friends.
Take Advantage of Five blessings before Being Deprived
Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) reported the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Take advantage of five things before five: your youth before your old age, your health before your illness, your riches before your poverty, your free time before your work, and your life before your death.” [Abu Bakr al-Bayhaqi, Shu‘ab al-Iman; Hakim, al-Mustadrak, declared the hadith as authentic, and Hafiz Dhahabi concurred]
Check these links:
video games Archives – SeekersGuidance
A Reader on OCD and Waswasa (Baseless Misgivings) (seekers.flywheelstaging.com)
Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersGuidance?
SeekersAcademy (seekers.flywheelstaging.com)
I pray this helps with your question.
[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally-trained scholar who has studied within UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and Turkey.
He started his early education in UK. He went onto complete hifz of Qur’an in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in UK where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.
He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He was teaching at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.
He currently resides in UK with his wife. His personal interest is love of books and gardening.
