What is the ruling on a school holding a football competition in which each participant pays a specific amount of money to buy prizes, which are then given to the winning team?

The questioner : There is an issue in one of the schools here where the students have a good activity and wish to hold a sports event. They organized a sports event in which each participant in the team pays a sum of money to buy prizes, which are given to the team that wins this sports event. We are uncertain whether this is a form of the gambling that is prohibited or not.

The Shaykh : First, is the sports activity they are engaging in not in violation of the Shari'ah?

The questioner : Yes, merely playing with the ball... regarding the Shari'ah in terms of clothing.

The Shaykh : And maintaining the prayer at its prescribed times.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : And not missing the congregational prayer because of it.

The questioner : We do not praise anyone but Allah, among the good people.

The Shaykh : And likewise you.

The questioner : If Allah wills ... .

The Shaykh : Good, if the intention is good and it is for the sake of Islam, then perhaps such a thing can be included under his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): What is the third?
The student : A shoe.

The Shaykh : Yes, So the race here is the wager. It is permissible to wager in these three matters because of the strength and preparation for meeting the enemies that they entail. The means today that strengthen the body of the Muslim have multiplied and multiplied greatly. If these means are free in themselves of any violation of the Shari'ah, like many of the duels in which one strikes the face of the other, and this is of course contrary to the Shari'ah and not permissible, then if these means of strengthening the body of the Muslim are free of any violation of the Shari'ah, and there is a race, and the intention is for this purpose, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not.

The questioner : And it does not become a form of gambling because they all pay money without a legalizer for them.

The Shaykh : No, the legalizer is not a condition. The legalizer in these three matters is not required, as Imam Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah clarified in his book "Al-Farasiyyah," because the race is a wager linguistically meaning: there is no wager except in these three things. Other things can be included as we mentioned earlier, but the legalizer is not a condition because the hadith of the legalizer is not authentic in its chain, as it contains 'Ali ibn Zayd al-Jad'an narrating it from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib from Abu Hurayrah, and he is unique in narrating it. Yes, O Allah, these three and what is in their meaning are the exceptions.

The questioner : Are there guidelines for including things with the three?

The Shaykh : The guideline is to observe first that it achieves what one of the three achieves, and the intention as well, as I mentioned earlier. Because in the three matters specified in the hadith, it is not permissible for a person to race for a shoe, a hoof, a sword, for example, or an arrow for shooting, or something similar, with the intention of... It should be verified that both this and that are present in everything included with these three matters .

The questioner : From a practical standpoint, O Shaykh, regarding the issue of football specifically, achieving the issue of intention in the matter of football is very difficult from a practical standpoint, first because there is desire.

The Shaykh : There is.

The questioner : Desire.

The Shaykh : Desire.

The questioner : Yes, and there is skill, and it means blind imitation of what the game brought or the way of playing, so all of this does not exclude it from not being included with the three, especially since the way of playing, its laws, rules, and style, almost everything means there is no use of the ball itself.

The Shaykh : So it seems to me that it should be researched before researching the wager in football, the playing of football itself, separating it from the wager, and whether it is included with one of the three or not? Do I understand from your words that you hold the view of the impermissibility of playing football because it is football, despite the condition you asked about, which is that one maintains the Shari'ah rulings in playing with it? Does it mean we say that it is not permissible to play football because it is football and it came from the West, or is there a detail?

The questioner : This and others, because also what is obtained from playing football, or other balls, is generally claimed to be achieved without the ball, and achieved better without the ball than with the ball, if the intention is as is always mentioned, or we acknowledge that... or from the aspect of strength or others, because strength means from the aspect of pure sports, body sports, if strength is achieved without the ball, it is possible in means that are faster, stronger, and better than... the ball... I do not think it is denied that it has a relation to desire, love, and skills, and these things, even if it is between Quran memorizers and good brothers or so... Rather, among the famous players, you find one of them, for example, trying to show his brother in the image that he could not maintain on the ball or show skills, and it is possible to lose the ball between his legs, and the known things, you find them among Quran memorizers if they play football. So all these things mean that the intended purpose is not strengthening the body, or if this is among the intended purposes, it is not the main one.

The Shaykh : Excuse me, before entering into the intended purpose, we should research playing football as it is playing football, because it is one of the acts of worship as you know. If an intention other than what is prescribed enters it, the act of worship becomes not prescribed. But if we see a person performing an act of worship but he does not seek the Face of Allah with it, like the one who strives, for example, in the path to be said, as came in the hadith, "a brave hero" and the like, like the scholar who learns and teaches to say people: "So-and-so is a scholar," and so on. I do not think the treatment of the issue is that the intention is such. No, we are now researching whether seeking knowledge is good or not? The answer comes: good. Jihad likewise, playing football is permissible or not permissible? After that, we look at the intentions of the players and their actions and so on. This is one thing. The second thing is that playing football has... there is no problem in that. But if we first prove that there is no violation of the Shari'ah in this game, as a game, it means the game becomes permissible. And this does not contradict our acknowledgment that it is play. But if we remember that the three things mentioned in the hadith of the race are also play, but they are described in the authentic hadith, which is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): ; So these four things are from play, but it is not described as vain play. Why? Because they strengthen the Muslim. And as you know, in the authentic hadith: So then... in... the subject, we must stand at the game of football: is it permissible in the Shari'ah of Islam, or is it forbidden, or is it disliked? If we prove that the original ruling is permissibility, then we move to what may follow from it of benefits or harms. And your saying that some students and those who memorize the Quran issue from them those actions you pointed to, the reason for that in my view is that we, up to now, have not been able to be an Islamic society, even a small one, even channels, because the Muslim youth now, truly rising and turning to their religion sincerely, has not been raised yet, but he has not yet understood Islam with a correct understanding, let alone being raised on this correct Islam. And who raises them? Their fathers and grandfathers. Some of these children and sons say our fathers are mushrikin (those who associate partners with Allah). So are these the ones who raise these sons? So we are in an awakening, as is said now, in a scholarly renaissance and a good Salafi renaissance, but the first of the rain is a drop, then it pours. So we are now in drops of the rain. These drops do not help in achieving Islamic upbringing. Now I always say, and forever, and perhaps you have heard, either directly or from the tape, that I say today the work that is obligatory upon the true Islamic callers is to perform two things: purification and upbringing. Purifying Islam from what has entered it of beliefs, rulings, behavior, and the like, then raising the Muslim youth on this basis. Now I believe Islamic upbringing does not exist because the time has not yet come for this upbringing to be realized, because the first condition has not been found, which is.
The student : Purification.

The Shaykh : Regarding ball games, if we say that ball games are permissible because they do not contradict the Shari'ah, and in fact they strengthen the body, and we have found indications of what you pointed out, that does not mean it stems from the ball itself, but rather from our own souls. Because now, when there is a race, for example, on horses or camels or in archery, it is possible for something of cheating and deception, as it is called, to creep into these competitions. But this is not of the nature of the Muslim, nor of the nature of... And everything can have something mixed into it that is not part of it, as I mentioned earlier. Knowledge: many scholars do not seek the face of Allah with it. Jihad is likewise. So what about...