The Criterion for Taking Prizes in School Competitions

The questioner:
School years are held between the best in the class if the need arises in the mosque and elsewhere; is it permissible for the teacher to take the customs?

The Shaykh:
Whatever assists in learning religious knowledge is permissible. This is the rule and criterion: whatever assists in learning religious knowledge, it is permissible to take the prize for it, and whatever is not of that nature, it is not permissible to take the prize for it. If it is a competition in calligraphy, since calligraphy assists in religious knowledge, [it is permissible for] the best students in calligraphy, or the most skilled in arithmetic, since this assists in religious knowledge, or the best in pronunciation of the Arabic language who do not make errors, and all of this is part of religious knowledge, so prizes may be taken for it. Yes.

Another questioner:
Shaykh al-Qurayni, he is silent.

The Shaykh:
As for the issue of drawings in competitions, drawing pictures or such, this is among the permissible things if it does not contain images of animals, for example, drawings of mountains, or drawings of rivers, or drawings of the land, or the like. This is permissible, but no prize is taken for it. Yes.