The Ruling on the Money Players Take as Salaries
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what is your opinion regarding the money that players take as their salaries?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
What is your opinion regarding the money that players take as their salaries?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible for a player to take money if the sport is not a means of jihad in the path of Allah the Exalted. The default ruling in this matter is prohibition. They should seek their livelihood by other means. If they wish to engage in sports, there is no objection to them doing so within limits and conditions, but they should not take money for it. As for the employees who organize and manage these sports, there is nothing wrong with that. They are not taking prizes for playing, but rather they are taking compensation for their work. If they are employees, for example, who prepare the programs and manage these affairs, they are taking it in return for their jobs, not in return for playing. Yes. And playing within the limits of what is permissible is a permissible matter. If it goes beyond that and includes forbidden things or what is wrong, then it becomes forbidden. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, what is your opinion regarding the money that players take as their salaries?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
What is your opinion regarding the money that players take as their salaries?
The Shaykh:
It is not permissible for a player to take money if the sport is not a means of jihad in the path of Allah the Exalted. The default ruling in this matter is prohibition. They should seek their livelihood by other means. If they wish to engage in sports, there is no objection to them doing so within limits and conditions, but they should not take money for it. As for the employees who organize and manage these sports, there is nothing wrong with that. They are not taking prizes for playing, but rather they are taking compensation for their work. If they are employees, for example, who prepare the programs and manage these affairs, they are taking it in return for their jobs, not in return for playing. Yes. And playing within the limits of what is permissible is a permissible matter. If it goes beyond that and includes forbidden things or what is wrong, then it becomes forbidden. Yes.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، كتاب الأطعمة — islamhouse.com (29:53)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.