Such compulsive obsessions have disastrous consequences.

Such compulsive obsessions have disastrous consequences. The book *“Balahaī al-ijtemai”*page 231 contains an incident where an inhabitant of an Iranian town stabbed his opponent thrice and killed him. The accused gave the following statement: “The victim has grabbed a lot of my money through gambling. He was not prepared to lay another bet despite my persuasion and ran away. I followed and killed him.” On page 325 of the same book, the following is quoted from the magazine “Roshan Fikr” .

“In the town of Monte Carlo, Argentina, a gambler lost around forty hundred thousand t umans in a game that lasted for sixteen hours. When the casino closed, he drove his car to the forest and shot himself in the head.” Incidents of suicide are common in the woods surrounding Monte Carlo. Most often, those who arrive in this city to gamble lose all their money. Sometimes, they cannot even pay for their return journey. Such people go into the woods and commit suicide.

One of the casinos has decided to loan the return fare to those who lose all their money. The weekly magazine of ‘Ittelat Daily’ No.1060 contains the following item. “Suicides due to gambling are on the increase according to the available statistics. More suicides were committed in this year (1361 solar) compared to the number in previous years. The casino owners have, as a result named this as the ‘unlucky year’. In the previous year, 120 people committed suicide after losing in Paris.

The statisticians of America state that the cause of thirty percent of all crimes is gambling.”[^2] It is noticed that most of the criminals like robbers, pickpockets and murderers commit crimes after leaving their gambling dens. Forgetting Allah (S.w.T.) Alcohol and gambling are vices leading to spiritual bankruptcy. These offenders are oblivious of Allah (S.w.T.) and of their duties towards their Creator.

Living in a state of forgetfulness of Allah (S.w.T.) is the worst tragedy that befalls the unfortunate victims of these vices. “...And to keep you off from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer....” (Surah al-Mā’ida 5:91) An alcoholic in a state of intoxication is in no condition to remember Allah (S.w.T.) and he abandons even an obligation like Salāt .

In the same way, the craze of a gambler to obtain wealth or make up for his losses is all consuming and he loses awareness of all obligatory acts including prayers.