Backgammon and games of chance (nard)

النَّرْد

Nard, in the lexicon, is a well-known game; the word is Persian. Shatranj relies on thought and planning, while nard relies on chance and guesswork. Playing nard is forbidden by most jurists (Malikis, Hanbalis, and the sounder Shafi'i view), and disliked as forbidden by some Hanafis, on the hadith that whoever plays nard has disobeyed God and His Messenger, and because gambling with it is forbidden and it is idle sport. Al-Rafi'i extends the ruling to every game whose basis is guesswork, while games that rest on counting, such as the mancala-like board, are not forbidden. ^{1 2}