The Ruling on Money Earned from Professional Football
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The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says: What is the ruling on the money a person takes from professionalizing in playing football?
The Shaykh:
You have answered this more than once: all bets and competitions for which money is taken are gambling and maysir (gambling), except for what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded by taking money for three things: racing horses, racing camels, and archery. These are means of jihad in the path of Allah, so it is permissible to take prizes for them from those who compete in them. As for anything else, no prize is taken for any competition—neither football, nor running on foot, nor any other competition. It is not permissible. Rather, some scholars, like Ibn al-Qayyim, say:
Matters of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and memorizing the Qur'an: it is permissible to take prizes for them because they fall under jihad in the path of Allah, since seeking knowledge is part of jihad in the path of Allah. As for anything else, it is not permissible to take prizes for competitions; it is maysir (gambling) and gambling, and consuming wealth unlawfully. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you. That concludes it.
The Shaykh:
And Allah the Exalted knows best, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and his Companions.
Honorable Shaykh, a questioner says: What is the ruling on the money a person takes from professionalizing in playing football?
The Shaykh:
You have answered this more than once: all bets and competitions for which money is taken are gambling and maysir (gambling), except for what the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) excluded by taking money for three things: racing horses, racing camels, and archery. These are means of jihad in the path of Allah, so it is permissible to take prizes for them from those who compete in them. As for anything else, no prize is taken for any competition—neither football, nor running on foot, nor any other competition. It is not permissible. Rather, some scholars, like Ibn al-Qayyim, say:
Matters of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) and memorizing the Qur'an: it is permissible to take prizes for them because they fall under jihad in the path of Allah, since seeking knowledge is part of jihad in the path of Allah. As for anything else, it is not permissible to take prizes for competitions; it is maysir (gambling) and gambling, and consuming wealth unlawfully. Yes.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you. That concludes it.
The Shaykh:
And Allah the Exalted knows best, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family and his Companions.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 21من38/شرح كتاب الألفية/الآداب/من قوله خف الله في ظلم الورى واحذرنه/الشيخ صالح الفوزان/كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:05:35)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.