Ruling on the prizes that companies place in their goods
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Some companies hold a festival for some of their goods; you buy one item and get another for free. Is this permissible?The Shaykh: Do you mean they give prizes?The questioner: You buy the same item and get another one exactly like it for free.And the other shops do not do it, meaning: It causes their market to stagnate.
The Shaykh: Do you mean: they give prizes?I ask you: Do you mean: for example, you buy a pen and they give you another pen? The questioner: For free.
The Shaykh: So is it a reward or not?The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: If they sold the pen for ten and gave the second one for free, the two would be for ten. What is the value of each one?The questioner: Approximately one dinar.
The Shaykh: Let us say: ten,We do not say: Riyals, or dinars, or whatever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: The value of the pen is five, do you understand?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: This company gave him another pen worth five. What is the value of each pen?The questioner: Ten.
The Shaykh: No.
Two and a half, two and a half. The matter is confused for you.
The questioner: Yes, Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Okay, they gave him this pen for ten and its value is ten. They gave him a similar pen for ten. What is the value of the two?The questioner: Five dinars.
The Shaykh: Ten, each one is five. Do you know? Do you understand now or not?The questioner: I understood.
The Shaykh: Okay, you say: if they do this, they gain the market over the others; because people sell one pen for ten, and this one sold two for ten, and this harms the markets.Some scholars say: There is no harm if he lowers the price as much as he wants; because he did not go to a person who stopped there wanting to buy and say: Come, I will give it to you cheaper than that. This is open, and if the price drops to half, let the others drop the price to half; they are not prevented.
And some scholars say: No.
People must be equal or close to each other; so that some do not ruin it for others, and so that enmity and hatred do not arise among people.
And the reference in this, in my view, as long as the issue is a matter of disagreement among the scholars of jurisprudence, is to refer to the one in authority, the prince or the governor, and he will determine what he wishes.
As for if the matter is a gift that is separate, meaning: Only in the first purchase, meaning: nothing happened, because some people make a gift in the first purchase, and when people turned to him, the prize stopped. This, if Allah wills, has nothing wrong with it.
The questioner: Okay, Shaykh, if he buys the goods, he enters the draw.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: He buys these goods and enters the draw, for a car prize.
The Shaykh: A share?The questioner and the audience: A draw, a draw.
The Shaykh: There is no harm if the value is the value, and you are buying the item for a purpose.Meaning like: The gas station now, the price is one, and you came to buy gasoline, you must buy, so there is no harm if a car prize comes to you, praise be to Allah; because you are now either safe or a winner, so it does not fall under gambling.
The Shaykh: Do you mean: they give prizes?I ask you: Do you mean: for example, you buy a pen and they give you another pen? The questioner: For free.
The Shaykh: So is it a reward or not?The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: If they sold the pen for ten and gave the second one for free, the two would be for ten. What is the value of each one?The questioner: Approximately one dinar.
The Shaykh: Let us say: ten,We do not say: Riyals, or dinars, or whatever.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: The value of the pen is five, do you understand?
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: This company gave him another pen worth five. What is the value of each pen?The questioner: Ten.
The Shaykh: No.
Two and a half, two and a half. The matter is confused for you.
The questioner: Yes, Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Okay, they gave him this pen for ten and its value is ten. They gave him a similar pen for ten. What is the value of the two?The questioner: Five dinars.
The Shaykh: Ten, each one is five. Do you know? Do you understand now or not?The questioner: I understood.
The Shaykh: Okay, you say: if they do this, they gain the market over the others; because people sell one pen for ten, and this one sold two for ten, and this harms the markets.Some scholars say: There is no harm if he lowers the price as much as he wants; because he did not go to a person who stopped there wanting to buy and say: Come, I will give it to you cheaper than that. This is open, and if the price drops to half, let the others drop the price to half; they are not prevented.
And some scholars say: No.
People must be equal or close to each other; so that some do not ruin it for others, and so that enmity and hatred do not arise among people.
And the reference in this, in my view, as long as the issue is a matter of disagreement among the scholars of jurisprudence, is to refer to the one in authority, the prince or the governor, and he will determine what he wishes.
As for if the matter is a gift that is separate, meaning: Only in the first purchase, meaning: nothing happened, because some people make a gift in the first purchase, and when people turned to him, the prize stopped. This, if Allah wills, has nothing wrong with it.
The questioner: Okay, Shaykh, if he buys the goods, he enters the draw.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: He buys these goods and enters the draw, for a car prize.
The Shaykh: A share?The questioner and the audience: A draw, a draw.
The Shaykh: There is no harm if the value is the value, and you are buying the item for a purpose.Meaning like: The gas station now, the price is one, and you came to buy gasoline, you must buy, so there is no harm if a car prize comes to you, praise be to Allah; because you are now either safe or a winner, so it does not fall under gambling.