The Meaning of the Hadith: (… There is no racing except in a hoof, a blade, or a horse)

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good, our Shaykh. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says in the hadith:

The Shaykh : Or a blade or a hoof

The questioner : Does this hadith, "there is no racing," cover all competitions that take place, and are all others forbidden, being other than these three?

The Shaykh : The wording of the hadith is like this, but it is possible to include with it whatever is connected to the purpose of these three things mentioned in the hadith. That is, the racing here, because it helps in strengthening the Muslims to prepare for fighting the disbelievers. So any new type of competition that was not known before, which has the same goal and the same purpose, and does not have the goal of earning money, falls within the hadith in its cause and purpose, not in the wording of its text.

The questioner : I mean, like religious competitions, where the judges or someone from outside the competitors offers them gifts for the sake of…?

The Shaykh : It seems, it seems that the racing mentioned in the hadith is not clear in your mind, because based on your last clarifying question, my answer would be completely different from the previous one. Because I say that these gifts offered to the competitors, whether in memorizing the Qur'an or in answering some scholarly issues, this is not a permissible means, and this is not the racing mentioned in the hadith. The racing mentioned in the hadith is two people racing on horses, and whichever one precedes the other takes the reward from the other. Here, there is something that resembles gambling exactly, but the difference between them is great. Gambling is about your luck and your share, and its purpose, as I told you earlier, is earning money. But here, its purpose is strengthening the body, strengthening the mounts for jihad in the path of Allah, and the like. Despite that, the Wise Lawgiver permitted the one who precedes to take from the one who is preceded. Do you see? Here is something else: it is said to the competitors, "Whoever of you precedes, he gets such and such a gift." This is permissible, but it is not racing. This is called a reward (ju'alah). But when one pays the other in exchange for his victory over him and his overcoming him, two competing parties.

The questioner : If you precede me, I give you a reward, and if I precede you, you give me a reward?

The Shaykh : No, no. If you precede me, you give me a reward, and vice versa. If you precede me, you give me, for example, ten dinars, and if I precede you, I give you ten dinars. This is racing. As for the reward (ju'alah), we are competing, and Abu Ahmad says, "Whoever of you two precedes, he gets such and such." This is a reward, and there is no problem with it. Clear up to here. We need to return to religious competitions. This is not permissible, because this creates a new generation that does not memorize the Qur'an except out of greed for money, and does not memorize scholarly issues except out of greed for money. No one leads the people in prayer as an imam except in exchange for a job, and no one calls to prayer for Allah except in exchange for a salary. And so on. And our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, made a rule that Muslims must hold onto always and forever in every aspect of their religious life, and it is His saying, the Exalted: , in the name of Allah.
Abu Layla : This is new, our Shaykh.

The Shaykh : May Allah feed you from the honey of Paradise.
Abu Layla : O Allah, amen.

The Shaykh : Did it become clear to you?

The questioner: Yes.