The Ruling on Wagering in Scholarly Matters for the Sake of Prevailing

Question : But what do you say if the intention is merely to prevail, rather than to arrive at knowing the ruling of the Shari'ah in this matter? Do we include it in jihad in the path of Allah and say that compensation is permissible to encourage people, each according to his intention? Or do we say that if this is the intention, it is not permissible, because in this case the person only wants to win for himself; what matters to him is not whether he hit the mark or erred?

Answer : If we look at the 'illah (operative cause) and the wisdom behind the permissibility of wagering, we say that the intention must be to clarify the truth and for the truth to prevail, not for one of you to overpower the other. And if we look at the general encouragement and incentive in seeking knowledge, we say it falls under the general rule, because even if one person's intention is bad, there is benefit in this contest. What is it? It is making the truth manifest and clarifying the truth, because each person will go and consult the books, review the tafsir, and the books of the Sunnah in order to prevail, and the other will do the opposite, also consulting them in order to prevail. So there is a general benefit in it, and this necessitates that we say it is halal (lawful), even if the intention behind it is merely to prevail and win.