What is the ruling on the prizes distributed in shops and markets?
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The Shaykh: Others
The questioner : In sales, he says, "O my Shaykh, what is the ruling on the prizes placed with the displayed goods and the gifts? What is the ruling on prizes and gifts? A person might enter a supermarket, for example, and see Lipton and Red Label. He intends and aims to buy the Lipton, but he sees the gift with the Red Label, so he leaves the Lipton and buys the Red Label. What is the ruling on that? And regarding prizes, for example, a person knows that there is a supermarket far from him and that there is a competition or prizes offered to whoever buys, for example, one hundred riyals' worth of goods. So he goes to that supermarket to buy and participate in the competition. Also, O my Shaykh, in the same supermarket, when prizes are placed on the displayed goods, a percentage increase is added to the goods. This increase is for the sake of buying the prize. What is your opinion?"
The Shaykh : We have been asked about this repeatedly, and my answer to it branches out. The question now concerns the buyer, while the answer is based on knowing the action of the seller who places these gifts or prizes. We have been asked about this repeatedly and answered as follows: If the value of these gifts or prizes comes out of the seller's pocket, then it is what is called in the books of fiqh and hadith as *ja'alah*, and there is nothing wrong with it, neither in selling nor buying. However, if the value of these gifts and prizes is what has been added to the prices, divided among the number of gifts or prizes, and the value of these prizes is added to the account of those who buy, then it is not permissible to sell them, and consequently, it is not permissible to buy them. This is the ruling in our belief. In reality, it may be that some merchants and some large capital companies do not care if a million, or millions, come out of their pockets, and they buy prizes and gifts with them in order to make people accept buying their goods. Or the matter may be the opposite: due to their financial weakness or their material greed, they add an increase to the value of the goods sold. In that case, the ruling is not permissible, as I said earlier, neither in selling nor buying.
The questioner : In sales, he says, "O my Shaykh, what is the ruling on the prizes placed with the displayed goods and the gifts? What is the ruling on prizes and gifts? A person might enter a supermarket, for example, and see Lipton and Red Label. He intends and aims to buy the Lipton, but he sees the gift with the Red Label, so he leaves the Lipton and buys the Red Label. What is the ruling on that? And regarding prizes, for example, a person knows that there is a supermarket far from him and that there is a competition or prizes offered to whoever buys, for example, one hundred riyals' worth of goods. So he goes to that supermarket to buy and participate in the competition. Also, O my Shaykh, in the same supermarket, when prizes are placed on the displayed goods, a percentage increase is added to the goods. This increase is for the sake of buying the prize. What is your opinion?"
The Shaykh : We have been asked about this repeatedly, and my answer to it branches out. The question now concerns the buyer, while the answer is based on knowing the action of the seller who places these gifts or prizes. We have been asked about this repeatedly and answered as follows: If the value of these gifts or prizes comes out of the seller's pocket, then it is what is called in the books of fiqh and hadith as *ja'alah*, and there is nothing wrong with it, neither in selling nor buying. However, if the value of these gifts and prizes is what has been added to the prices, divided among the number of gifts or prizes, and the value of these prizes is added to the account of those who buy, then it is not permissible to sell them, and consequently, it is not permissible to buy them. This is the ruling in our belief. In reality, it may be that some merchants and some large capital companies do not care if a million, or millions, come out of their pockets, and they buy prizes and gifts with them in order to make people accept buying their goods. Or the matter may be the opposite: due to their financial weakness or their material greed, they add an increase to the value of the goods sold. In that case, the ruling is not permissible, as I said earlier, neither in selling nor buying.
Source
www.al-albany.com
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