The Ruling on Participating in Paid-Message Voting Contests
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: Some channels broadcast voting contests where the audience votes, and the message costs five riyals. Is it permissible for me to send a message to vote?
The Shaykh:
What are they voting for?
The questioner:
The winner.
The Shaykh:
Is it for a specific need?
The questioner:
Are they voting for a horse or a man, or what?
The Shaykh:
Whoever consumes wealth unjustly—they collect large sums from you and others, then give the winner a portion of it, and they consume the rest. They consume the wealth of people unjustly. This is gambling (maysir). One might pay a small amount and receive millions or a high-value car. This is obvious gambling, and I seek refuge in Allah from that. Yes.
He says: Some channels broadcast voting contests where the audience votes, and the message costs five riyals. Is it permissible for me to send a message to vote?
The Shaykh:
What are they voting for?
The questioner:
The winner.
The Shaykh:
Is it for a specific need?
The questioner:
Are they voting for a horse or a man, or what?
The Shaykh:
Whoever consumes wealth unjustly—they collect large sums from you and others, then give the winner a portion of it, and they consume the rest. They consume the wealth of people unjustly. This is gambling (maysir). One might pay a small amount and receive millions or a high-value car. This is obvious gambling, and I seek refuge in Allah from that. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، محاضرات في العقيدة والدعوة-027-الرقية الشرعية أحكام وضوابط|صالح الفوزان|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (1:13:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.