A Note on the Ruling Regarding Offering Prizes to Those Who Purchase Specific Items

The Shaykh : It may be appropriate on this occasion to mention that some of the prizes offered to those who purchase specific items fall into this category. For example, a card may be placed in some cans, written with "card" or "prize of such-and-such," and the simplest example is bottles of Pepsi or similar drinks, where a specific brand appears inside, and the winner receives such-and-such. These rewards may be of the type of gambling, or they may be of the type of a reward for a service (ja'alah). The difference between the two is that we look at this reward: did it come out of the company's own pocket, or was the value of these prizes added to the price of the goods? In that case, it would be gambling and forbidden, without a doubt, because the winner gains it not through effort, trade, or anything else, but purely by chance, at the expense of the pockets of the other buyers who did not receive these prizes. Without a doubt, when the company places these prizes, it is at the expense of the buyers, not at the expense of its own pocket. It also calculates the value of these rewards, let us say one thousand or thousands upon thousands, and this is divided by the price of the goods and added to it, so this addition is at the expense of the buyers, not at the expense of the company. Here, as we said before, the causes are many, but the death is one; all these causes lead to consuming the wealth of people unjustly.