The Meaning of Gambling, Its Depiction, and Their Saying That It Revolves Between Gain and Loss
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, I would like you to clarify the meaning of gambling and illustrate it?
The Shaykh:
Gambling is defined as taking prizes other than the three types mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Anything other than these three is gambling. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the meaning of their saying, that is?
The Shaykh:
Gambling is all forms of competition and betting. If money is wagered in these competitions and bets, it is gambling, except for the three things mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what do they mean when they say it revolves between profit and loss?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
What do they mean when they say it revolves between profit and loss?
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed. One of them is either a loser or a winner. If he gets the prize, he is a winner. If he does not get the prize, he becomes a loser because he paid for something and it was lost. So, there is nothing wrong if it revolves between them. However, if he is certain that he will get the profit, that is not permissible. This is only permissible in the three things: the horse, the mule, and the camel. If he is not certain that he will get something—it may happen or it may not—that is not permissible. But if he is certain that he will get it, that is not permissible, because it is no longer a competition. He is certain that he will get the prize, so it is no longer a competition.
Honorable Shaykh, I would like you to clarify the meaning of gambling and illustrate it?
The Shaykh:
Gambling is defined as taking prizes other than the three types mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Anything other than these three is gambling. Yes.
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what is the meaning of their saying, that is?
The Shaykh:
Gambling is all forms of competition and betting. If money is wagered in these competitions and bets, it is gambling, except for the three things mentioned by the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, what do they mean when they say it revolves between profit and loss?
The Shaykh:
Yes.
The questioner:
What do they mean when they say it revolves between profit and loss?
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed. One of them is either a loser or a winner. If he gets the prize, he is a winner. If he does not get the prize, he becomes a loser because he paid for something and it was lost. So, there is nothing wrong if it revolves between them. However, if he is certain that he will get the profit, that is not permissible. This is only permissible in the three things: the horse, the mule, and the camel. If he is not certain that he will get something—it may happen or it may not—that is not permissible. But if he is certain that he will get it, that is not permissible, because it is no longer a competition. He is certain that he will get the prize, so it is no longer a competition.
Source
شرح بلوغ المرام من أدلة الأحكام [ صالح الفوزان ]، كتاب الأطعمة — islamhouse.com (32:27)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.