Gambling Among Pre-Islamic Arabs

Last updated: April 30th, 2025 at 12:43 pm · Est. Reading Time: < 1 minute

Gambling was a favourite pastime for pre-Islamic Arabs.  Here is a piece of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry:

I seemed to myself like a gambler who cleaves steadfastly to the bag in which the gaming arrows are kept;
until at the day’s end, he is ruined and has lost heavily in all his wagers.¹

Though generally gambling was a structured activity involving gaming arrows, the way it is practiced in our modern casinos, one form of gambling was simply betting.  The pre-Islamic Arabs could bet on the outcome of any event, the loser to pay money. ²

Historic sources do not mention any professional bookies.  Betting was between two private individuals.

Further Reading

History of Islam, Social Structure of Pre-Islamic Arabs, https://historyofislam.org/social-structure-of-pre-islamic-arabs/

Endnotes

1. ‘Amr ibn Qami’ah, The Poems of ‘Amr son of Qami’ah, ed. and trans. Charles Lyall, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1919), 32.
2. Muhammad bin ‘Umar al-Wāqidī.  The life of Muḥammad:  kitāb al-Maghāzī, ed. Rizwi Faizer, trans. Rizwi Faizer, Amal Ismail and AbdulKader Tayob (London: Routledge, 2011), 345.