Praying for Favorite Team
Question: Can I pray to Allah that my favorite team wins? What if I end up praying that a Muslim loses?
Answer:
Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Dear questioner,
Thank you for your important question.
Parameters and loyalty
You can pray that Allah guides a non-Muslim and/or that He help a non-Muslim in a worldly matter. So, that means that you can pray that Allah makes a non-Muslim team win a competition.
On the flip side, you cannot pray that Allah harms a Muslim in worldly matters. But does losing a competition necessarily mean worldly harm? I personally don’t think so. Sometimes losing does not result in direct financial or professional harm. Given this, it would be permissible to pray that Allah let one team beat another, even if the team one is praying for is non-Muslim.
If the team that one prayed for was non-Muslim had become a symbol of disbelief in one’s society, while the team that one was praying to lose was Muslim and was generally felt to represent Islam, then one could not pray that the non-Muslims win. That would like praying that disbelief to be given victory over belief, at least in people’s eyes.
Life worth living
Life is concise and should be spent on useful things. In general, cricket, football, and other pastimes should not be our focus or the core of our prayers. Please see:
https://seekersguidance.org/answers/halal-and-haram/haram-play-video-games/
At the same time, we should always ask Allah for everything that we want. So if one is really into sports, asking Allah for one’s team to win is a good idea.
Conclusion
You can pray for your Muslim team to win, and you can also pray that a non-Muslim team wins as long as they are not a symbol of disbelief in one’s society.
Please see:
https://seekersguidance.org/articles/general-artices/adab-dua-21/
I pray this helps.
[Ustadh] Farid
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadh Farid Dingle has completed extensive years of study in the sciences of the Arabic language and the various Islamic Sciences. During his studies, he also earned a CIFE Certificate in Islamic Finance. Over the years, he has developed a masterful ability to craft lessons that help non-Arabic speakers gain a deep understanding of the language. He currently teaches courses in the Arabic Language.
