The Ruling on Competitions in Commercial Establishments
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
What is the ruling on participating in competitions at commercial establishments?
Answer:
There is scholarly disagreement regarding competitions, and the matter requires a detailed distinction. If the competition involves horses, camels, or archery, there is no harm. However, competitions involving a prize or wager are not permissible; the bets that people make for a reward are not allowed. But if it is encouragement for memorizing the Qur'an, or encouragement in knowledge where a teacher or principal gives assistance to the one who memorizes, this is called encouragement, not a wager. For example, saying, "Whoever memorizes this, we will give them that," or "Whoever succeeds in this, we will give them that," is encouragement. This is a reward.
What is the ruling on participating in competitions at commercial establishments?
Answer:
There is scholarly disagreement regarding competitions, and the matter requires a detailed distinction. If the competition involves horses, camels, or archery, there is no harm. However, competitions involving a prize or wager are not permissible; the bets that people make for a reward are not allowed. But if it is encouragement for memorizing the Qur'an, or encouragement in knowledge where a teacher or principal gives assistance to the one who memorizes, this is called encouragement, not a wager. For example, saying, "Whoever memorizes this, we will give them that," or "Whoever succeeds in this, we will give them that," is encouragement. This is a reward.
Source
لقاءات لابن باز - لقاء مع إخوة في الله - ابن باز - ٥ — archive.org (25:23)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.