Title: Earning a Living as a Professional Sportsman Question: Can you please tell me that earning a living by playing any sport such as cricket, hockey, football, tennis is halaal or haraam according to the Shari`ah laws? k.md.faizan Answer: There is no harm in earning one's living as a professional sportsman. It should be kept in mind that the prohibitions of the Shari `ah primarily relate to those things, which have a negative effect upon the physical, mental or spiritual or moral cleansing of man. This really implies that barring those things, which have been expressly prohibited by the Shari`ah , only those things would be considered as disapproved by the Shari`ah , which are either clearly against the requirements of the inherent nature of man or clearly entail an element of immorality attached to them. Earning a living as a sportsman, in my opinion, does not entail either of the two stated criteria, which could have rendered it 'disliked' or 'disapproved' by the Shari`ah . The only obvious exception would be where the particular sport or game entails something contrary to the teachings of the Shari`ah . Thus, it would not be appropriate for a Muslim to make a living as a 'gambler', for instance. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad November 25, 2001