Lately, along with various social and moral degradations, the rampant spread of gambling under various names has created a new dimension in the criminal world. Increasing association with this social disorder is creating social unrest, accountability and weak rule of law. Gambling is strictly forbidden in Islam. Gambling addiction poisons family life while making people wealthy. Creates chaos in the society, creates an environment for the spread of immoral and dishonest activities. Life makes me depressed and pushes me to commit suicide.
In this regard, Almighty Allah says, ‘People ask you about alcohol and gambling. Say, there is a great sin in both of them.’ (2: 219) Elsewhere in Surah Al-Maida verses 90-91 it is said, ‘Liquor, gambling, altars of idolatry and shooting arrows of fate are the work of Satan. So discard it. Satan seeks to spread enmity and hatred among you through alcohol and gambling and prevent you from remembering Allah.’ Gambling and fortune-telling of any kind are strictly forbidden in the Islamic way of life. The view of Islam in this regard is that earning a living should be done in an honest way, through manual and incremental work. There is no place for luck here. Gambling is fraud and punishable offence.
Gambling makes people lazy by relying on luck. It creates chaos in the society by creating an anti-law and order attitude along with creating a negative impact on the overall economy nationally. Destroys characteristic structures. It is an act of destruction of family and society. The process of creating a negative trend in the economy. Gambling is prohibited in the Rigveda. Said to earn a living through manual labor. Gambling has been declared a criminal activity and open theft and the governor has been asked to ensure punishment for the same.
The main reason for the battle of Kurukshetra described in the Mahabharata was cheating through the game of dice called Jua.
The Bible mentions ‘the addiction to money as the root of all evil’ – making money by dishonest means is a crime. (13:11) In 1984, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, an organization of Jewish rabbis, declared gambling unacceptable. Gambling on commercial grounds is illegal in the Torah. Gautama Buddha referred to gambling as unwholesome and made the testimony of gamblers inadmissible; Banned the social engagement of the gambler, declared him unfit for marriage. Basically, gambling has not been legalized in any religious and welfare oriented society in the world. It is a social disorder. Unethical act.
Anointed as the second largest Muslim country, the position of gambling in our country is surprising. In the report published in Prothom Alo on June 25, 2024, the statement of the State Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Junaid Ahmed, revealed our position in the field of gambling; Amazing information. He said, “How 50 lakh people got involved in these illegal gambling sites.” In the same report, Dhaka University professor ABM Mainul Hossain’s statement deserves considerable importance. According to him, the government can easily find out who is behind all these. Despite being officially banned in this country, the spread of gambling in this way is indicative of social and moral degradation.
The proliferation of online gambling thanks to smartphones is on the one hand a sign of social moral decline, but at the same time its impact on the economy is alarming. The finance minister told the national parliament on May 9 that money is being laundered from the country through criminal activities such as online gambling, betting, gaming, forex, cryptocurrency trading, hundi etc. 15 crore rupees are spent annually on the advertisement of these online portals.
At present, about 50 percent of households in the country use smartphones. For its welfare, teenagers and young adults are harmed by gambling; College students. Flashy gambling ads are coming on various attractive portals through smartphones. Young people, college and university students are easily attracted by these advertisements and are stepping into the dark world of social crime. Getting involved in various anti-social immoral activities. Even after officially shutting down 2,600 online gambling portals, the situation cannot be resolved. Due to lack of sufficient employment, numerous unemployed youths are resorting to self-destructive immoral activities. If this is not prevented at any cost, there is a danger that the young generation will go astray and step on the path of irreparable dark life. In this regard, a task force comprising the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, BTRC needs to be formed now. Various social media, television, websites will be under regular supervision of this task force.
Coordination of work of all departments related to information technology including Department of Telecommunication, National Telecommunication Monitoring Center, Computer Council is the need of the hour. Change in existing laws to ban gambling is required. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to add a chapter on caution and awareness in the education program. Electronic and print media, various social organizations especially religious institutions have immense importance to discuss this matter.
Gambling has always existed in all countries. Although the society used to look at it with hatred, lately a warm feeling is being observed in this regard. Due to this, the social disease called gambling is spreading in the society. In this regard, massive public awareness activities need to be started immediately. Activities of relevant ministries, departments, law enforcement agencies; In particular, the effective functioning of the Cybercrime Department will undoubtedly be helpful in this regard. The most important thing is the involvement of the parents. There is no doubt that this tendency will be reduced to a great extent if the parents are active.
