Can Muslims Play Golf? What Islamic Teaching Says About the Game

Yes, Muslims can play golf. The major schools of Islamic jurisprudence consider exercise and recreation permissible unless they involve any prohibited activity. As for golf, there is nothing prohibited in playing it. However, scholars lay down some conditions applicable to any form of recreation – no gambling, no alcohol consumption, proper attire and no delay in performing prayers and other obligations due to the game.

The question of whether or not Can Muslims Play Golf arises because of where golf is usually played, not because of the game itself. Clubhouses have alcohol; betting and gambling are part of the game, each round takes from four hours up and over prayer times and appropriate attire may be problematic. Below we will discuss the principles that scholars formulate, practical considerations raised by golfers and how golfers from various Muslim countries resolve them. Different scholars and different schools of jurisprudence make different rulings; therefore, people seeking a fatwa for themselves should refer to a trusted scholar.

The Short Version

Question	General position
Is golf itself prohibited?	No. Scholars treat sports as permissible unless something prohibited is attached
Betting on a round	Widely considered gambling, which is prohibited
Prize money	Many scholars allow a prize funded by a sponsor or third party, but not one funded by entry fees from the players
Alcohol at the club	Drinking, serving or carrying it is prohibited. Views differ on simply being present where it is served
Dress	Scholars ask that the body be covered according to modesty guidelines, which affects shorts and fitted clothing
Prayer	The round must not cause a prayer to be missed
Time and money	Moderation applies. Sport should not crowd out work, family or worship
Who decides for you?	A qualified scholar in your own school and situation

The Starting Point: Sport Is Permissible

As far as Islamic fiqh is concerned, anything done in the mundane world is legitimate until there is a proof to the contrary. In the case of sport, it obviously comes under this very tenet, and the scholars frequently refer to teachings advocating physical fitness as well as the famous teaching regarding the right of one’s body over them.

Recreation has also been accorded significance by itself. It is looked at as an activity that keeps a person fit enough to discharge his obligations rather than as a distraction from his obligations. Being a game played while walking outdoors, golf requires patience and self-restraint. 

Thus, it can be easily said that the debate of the scholars is seldom about golf.

The Conditions Scholars Usually Apply

Condition	What it means for a golfer
No gambling	Wagers on the outcome, skins games, and money changing hands between players on the result are the main issue
No alcohol involvement	Not drinking, not buying rounds, and not serving or carrying it for others
Prayers kept	Planning the tee time so no prayer is missed, and praying at the turn or before the round when needed
Modest dress	Covering what modesty guidelines require, which for men generally means at least from the navel to the knee
No neglect of duties	Work, family and worship come first. A sport that regularly displaces them is criticised on those grounds
No extravagance	Spending beyond your means on memberships or equipment is discouraged as waste
Good conduct	Honesty in scoring, fair play, keeping the temper in check and respect for others

Read together, those conditions describe a fairly ordinary round of golf. A golfer who plays without betting, drinks nothing, prays on time and keeps the game in proportion is well inside what scholars describe as permissible.

Betting and Prize Money

This is the problem which will affect most of the average golfers. According to Islam, gambling is definitely unlawful and according to the ordinary definition, gambling means an agreement in which one party may lose to the other based on the result of the competition. This definition encompasses many common forms of bets among golfers including betting one dollar per hole, skins, presses, closest to the pin for cash, and money pool entry fee awarded to the victor.

The prizes vary based on the source of the money. In general, prizes sponsored by someone else or by the organizers of the game have been accepted by scholars to be lawful since none of the competitors loses in the process. The prize offered by the competitors themselves is regarded as gambling by scholars.

Arrangement	How scholars generally view it	Practical alternative
Money bet between players on the result	Gambling, and prohibited	Play for points, pride or a charity donation
Entry fees pooled and paid to the winner	Most scholars class this as gambling	Ask the organiser to fund the prize separately from entry fees
A prize put up by a sponsor or the club	Generally permitted, since no player loses money to another	Nothing to change
A green fee that simply pays to play	A normal service payment, not gambling	Nothing to change
Professional tournament prize funds	Usually treated as sponsor-funded prizes rather than wagers	Some players avoid gambling-company sponsorship

Golf’s betting culture is casual enough that a Muslim golfer may need to say early in the round that they are playing for nothing. In most groups that is the end of it.

Alcohol on the Course and in the Clubhouse

Drinking is haram in Islam; what is banned goes beyond the act of drinking but encompasses purchasing, selling, serving, and transporting the alcoholic drinks as well. This is clear enough on the course; the beverage cart would just be a place that the Muslim golfer does not purchase from.

This is where the experts disagree on presence; many consider that playing in the club with the bar should be alright as the golf play is unrelated to the bar service, while some suggest not joining the meetings where alcohol is being drunk around the table. The tougher stance hinges on whether you are seated in an environment focused on drinking rather than playing the golf course with the drinkers.

Some practical measures can help here as well. Many Muslim golfers complete their play on the course, do not join the bar and go home afterwards, while some organize their business day or society meeting free of alcohol, which the club arranges easily.

Prayer Times and a Four-Hour Round

A round of 18 holes usually takes four to four and a half hours, and that will often overlap a prayer time. This is a scheduling problem rather than a religious obstacle.

Situation	How golfers usually handle it
An early morning tee time	Pray Fajr before leaving, and the round finishes well before Dhuhr
A round crossing Dhuhr or Asr	Pray at the turn, in the clubhouse, in a prayer room or in a quiet clean spot on the property
Friday prayer	Book a tee time well before or after Jumu’ah, since attendance takes priority for men
Winter, with short daylight	Nine holes rather than 18, keeping the round inside one prayer window
Playing abroad	Check prayer times for the location, since they shift with latitude and season

Golf clubs in Muslim-majority countries build for this, and many courses in the Gulf and Southeast Asia have prayer rooms near the clubhouse or halfway house. Elsewhere, golfers simply pray on a towel or travel mat in a quiet corner, which most clubs accommodate without comment.

Dress Codes and Modesty

Golf’s dress code and the requirements of modesty according to Islam go together most of the time. Collar shirts and tailored trousers are common in almost all clubs, and trousers rather than shorts are enough for men since scholars usually consider the part between navel and knees as an uncovered part.

The advice of the majority of scholars for women is longer and looser clothing, and some clothing companies for golf now produce tops, tunics, and trousers for summer heat. Breathing sports hijabs have been common in most sports for Muslim women, and the dress codes in golf do not collide with these hijabs.

Different views exist among scholars about mixed environments, which means whether a woman plays alone, in competition, with her family, or in a women only environment. Many clubs organize women’s mornings and competitions for women that suit those preferences.

Ramadan and Golf

Golfing during Ramadan is common, with adjustments being made on a physiological level rather than a religious level. A four-hour game while fasting in high temperatures can be taxing for players, who thus shift their teetimes to early mornings or evenings, play nine holes instead of 18, cart instead of walking, and set low expectations regarding their scores.

Night golf during Ramadan is very common in the Gulf, where floodlit courses and later teetimes make playing golf at night during Ramadan a tradition, with games beginning post-Taraweeh prayers and stretching to the early hours of the morning.

Golf in the Muslim World

Golf has a long history in Muslim nations, which alone answers in many ways the assumption that it falls outside Islamic civilization.

Morocco has been playing host to the Hassan II Trophy since 1971, inaugurated with royal backing, and whose venues at Rabat and Agadir have long been recognized on the world stage. The United Arab Emirates has been organizing the Dubai Desert Classic since 1989, now serving as the anchor of the European tour season in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Qatar has had its Qatar Masters for decades. Turkey hosts a regular tour tournament, while Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei have active clubs and federations.

Saudi Arabia has made huge investments in the game in recent years, in terms of building courses, holding professional tournaments for men and women, and sponsoring development projects for bringing new players to the game. In all these nations, golf has become a part of sports and social life for Muslims.

Common Questions Muslim Golfers Raise

Is it a problem to work as a caddie or as an employee of a club? The actual activity is not a problem at all; the potential problem could be a position which involves serving alcoholic beverages; here scholars recommend avoiding or renegotiating the terms of the job.

How about club memberships paid for with interest-based loans? As we know, interest is forbidden, and the recommendation will be paying the membership fee from one’s personal money and not participating in any financial operations which include interest.

What about tournaments organized by gambling firms? According to most scholars, it is not recommended to participate in or promote gambling; for example, some Muslim athletes do not agree to have the name of a betting company on their shirts. In golf, the question is usually asked about the sponsors of the tournament rather than participation in it.

What about consumption of water used in golf in arid regions? Some writers and scholars pose this question in relation to stewardship issues rather than rulings because waste is not approved. Modern golf fields in arid regions make use of the recycled water and drought-resistant grasses.

Final Take

So can Muslims play golf? They certainly can, and the debate among scholars revolves around the culture of the game as opposed to the game itself. Remove any bets, refrain from drinking alcohol, adhere to modesty guidelines, organize your teeing times according to prayer time, and balance the time spent and the money spent, and you will be well within the permissible, as described by scholars. There will be differences in practice among various scholars as well as the schools of thought, so ask a scholar about yours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Also read about: What Is a Mulligan in Golf? The Do-Over Shot Explained, With Rules and Etiquette