Participating in a competition in which the competitor pays money
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Fatwa No. ( 21724 )
Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the questioner: a citizen, via the Center for Da'wah and Guidance in Jeddah , and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (5846) and date 21/9/1421 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is: You will find attached an announcement regarding the Ramadan competition and riddles presented by Saudi Television, Channel One. A citizen brought it and wants a fatwa and your Eminence's opinion on it, as anyone who wants to participate must buy a calling card. The first card, worth (15) riyals,
is for the adults' competition, and the second card, worth (10) riyals, is for the children's competition. One calls via the card to the program and enters his name and phone number. Then the program host selects one of the participants via computer, calls him, and asks him questions for which a film showing the answer to the question has previously been shown. If he answers correctly, he takes the prize. It is not possible to participate in the competition or call except by buying this card. I hope your Eminence will graciously review this and issue a fatwa on it .
After studying the inquiry, the Committee answered that the aforementioned competition is not permissible; because it includes gambling; because the participants in it pay a sum of money, which is the price of the aforementioned card, hoping to win a larger sum than that, and this is gambling, which is the forbidden maysir by the text of the Noble Qur'an in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90] And because of the riba in this action; because the competitor pays money to obtain more money than it via the price of the card, which was made a trick to reach riba.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Praise be to Allah alone, and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the questioner: a citizen, via the Center for Da'wah and Guidance in Jeddah , and referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with number (5846) and date 21/9/1421 AH. The questioner asked a question, the text of which is: You will find attached an announcement regarding the Ramadan competition and riddles presented by Saudi Television, Channel One. A citizen brought it and wants a fatwa and your Eminence's opinion on it, as anyone who wants to participate must buy a calling card. The first card, worth (15) riyals,
is for the adults' competition, and the second card, worth (10) riyals, is for the children's competition. One calls via the card to the program and enters his name and phone number. Then the program host selects one of the participants via computer, calls him, and asks him questions for which a film showing the answer to the question has previously been shown. If he answers correctly, he takes the prize. It is not possible to participate in the competition or call except by buying this card. I hope your Eminence will graciously review this and issue a fatwa on it .
After studying the inquiry, the Committee answered that the aforementioned competition is not permissible; because it includes gambling; because the participants in it pay a sum of money, which is the price of the aforementioned card, hoping to win a larger sum than that, and this is gambling, which is the forbidden maysir by the text of the Noble Qur'an in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالأَنْصَابُ وَالأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ فَاجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَAnd success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.