The Ruling on Telephone Competition Contests

Question:
The Shaykh, what is your opinion on competition programs? The questioner says: We hold beneficial competitions where they call you for free, then they ask you a question. If you answer correctly, you receive a prize. If your answer is not correct, you lose nothing. However, the owner of the program prepared for the competition receives a sum of money from one of the companies based on the number of callers.

Answer:
This is from maysir (gambling) and qimar (gambling). Those who operate these calls, in order for you to get a prize, they collect the call fees and obtain a large amount of money from them. The prize is a portion of this money they obtained from the calls. This is consuming wealth unjustly. As for taking a prize for horse racing, camel racing, or archery, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted it. He said: "There is no racing except with a blade, a hoof, or a hoof." The blade is archery, the hoof is racing on camels, and the hoof is racing on horses. Likewise, taking a prize for memorizing the Qur'an or reciting the Qur'an is permissible, or for questions of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), questions of religious knowledge, that is permissible. Yes.