The Criterion of the Forbidden Contract
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Your Eminence! Some gas stations offer prizes, which are, for example, five hundred or one thousand liters, without any increase in the price. When the car owner fills up, they give him a slip. At the end of each month, a drawing is held, and he might win one thousand or five hundred liters.
What is your Eminence’s statement regarding this matter?
By Allah, we see—may Allah keep you safe—that these prizes, if the buyer is purchasing for his need, not in order to win the prize,
and it was a cause for his profit, then there is nothing wrong with it; because this buyer is either a gainer or one who is safe,Meaning: he has no loss, and he will buy the gasoline anyway, so either he gets this prize or he is safe,And the forbidden contract is: which is the case where the contracting party is either a gainer or a loser. But if it is between a gainer or one who is safe, then there is nothing wrong with it.
What is your Eminence’s statement regarding this matter?
By Allah, we see—may Allah keep you safe—that these prizes, if the buyer is purchasing for his need, not in order to win the prize,
and it was a cause for his profit, then there is nothing wrong with it; because this buyer is either a gainer or one who is safe,Meaning: he has no loss, and he will buy the gasoline anyway, so either he gets this prize or he is safe,And the forbidden contract is: which is the case where the contracting party is either a gainer or a loser. But if it is between a gainer or one who is safe, then there is nothing wrong with it.