The Ruling on Prizes Given for the Purchase of Goods
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
And it is not the case that many of the Yemeni groups are in a position regarding this matter. If you want to follow up or work on it, it is better than healing in this market. What has become of this practice? And regarding many of these prizes, no one desires this.
The Shaykh:
This is not permissible, and fatwas have been issued stating that it is forbidden because it involves harms. First, it encourages people to buy goods they may not need, purchasing them solely for the prize, and they may waste the item because they do not need it; they only want to obtain the prize.
Second, it harms the owners of other shops. If they do not engage in this practice, they lose customers, which harms them. It has been mentioned to you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade intercepting goods and intercepting travelers, because that harms the people of the market, and this practice harms the people of the market.
Third, this is consuming wealth unjustly, because it is without a fair exchange. A car with a high value is given away; this is a form of consumption, but it increases customers, and they raise the prices so that they can obtain this prize. This is consuming wealth through deception. It contains great harms and is not permissible.
The questioner:
No.
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory to prevent this manipulation in the markets of Muslims. It is obligatory for those in authority to prevent this manipulation in the markets of Muslims, and to prevent these companies, markets, and shops from this practice. The reckless one who has become such that if he does not do it, trade and sales are disrupted. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
And it is not the case that many of the Yemeni groups are in a position regarding this matter. If you want to follow up or work on it, it is better than healing in this market. What has become of this practice? And regarding many of these prizes, no one desires this.
The Shaykh:
This is not permissible, and fatwas have been issued stating that it is forbidden because it involves harms. First, it encourages people to buy goods they may not need, purchasing them solely for the prize, and they may waste the item because they do not need it; they only want to obtain the prize.
Second, it harms the owners of other shops. If they do not engage in this practice, they lose customers, which harms them. It has been mentioned to you that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade intercepting goods and intercepting travelers, because that harms the people of the market, and this practice harms the people of the market.
Third, this is consuming wealth unjustly, because it is without a fair exchange. A car with a high value is given away; this is a form of consumption, but it increases customers, and they raise the prices so that they can obtain this prize. This is consuming wealth through deception. It contains great harms and is not permissible.
The questioner:
No.
The Shaykh:
It is obligatory to prevent this manipulation in the markets of Muslims. It is obligatory for those in authority to prevent this manipulation in the markets of Muslims, and to prevent these companies, markets, and shops from this practice. The reckless one who has become such that if he does not do it, trade and sales are disrupted. There is no power and no strength except with Allah.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، تابع باب شروطه وما نهي عنه منه - 4 — islamhouse.com (43:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.