'Count your prayer beads instead' Imam says chess is WORSE than gambling and eating pork
A TURKISH imam has out at chess players saying the pastime is more sinful for Muslims than gambling or eating pork.
Turkish imam Ahmet Mahmut Unlu
Controversial Muslim televangelist, Ahmet Mahmut Unlu, referred to the players as “cursed” claiming that “most people who played chess are liars”.
He said: "Playing chess is worse than gambling and eating pork. People who play chess are more prone to lying than others.
"People who play chess may not say the shahada (declaration of Islamic belief) while they are dying.
The Turkish imam repeatedly makes bizarre comments on religion
People who play chess are cursed. You should count your prayer beads instead of playing games like this
"People who play chess are cursed. You should count your prayer beads instead of playing games like this."
The 51-year-old, known professionally as 'Cubbeli' Ahmet Hoca, is one of Turkey's most influential imams.
He is one of a growing number of Muslim preachers who use the methods of Christian televangelists by broadcasting their message to the faithful on social media and television.
The Turkish Chess Federation has vowed to take legal action against Unlu’s comments, branding them “unacceptable”.
Unlu hit the headlines in November 2014 when he condemned the European Space Agency's successful landing of the Philae probe on the 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet as "maniacal".
The imam said chess players are 'cursed'
Imam: Hadith, Sharia law and Fatwas have infected Islam
Playing chess is worse than gambling, the Turkish imam said
It is not the first time the Turkish imam has made bizarre comments on religion.
More recently, he slammed a colleague for describing oral sex religiously forbidden, insisting there was no such ban in Islam.
Unlu is the most famous imam of Ismailaga Jamia, a branch of the Sufi order of Islam in Turkey. It takes its name from the Ismailaga Mosque in Fatih, the capital district of Istanbul.