Is it permissible for the owner of a gas station to offer a prize to whoever buys a large quantity of gasoline from him?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, O Shaykh. I am a man who works in trade, and I have a gas station. Is it permissible for me to offer a car as a prize to whoever fills up with one thousand liters, for example? What is the ruling on this action?
The Shaykh : If he is truthful in what he says, then were we not in the Sacred Mosque, I would have entered into a contract with him, because if he fills up with one thousand—what was it?—one thousand liters, I would give him a car. This would never be the case, but some stations offer a prize to whoever buys a large quantity. So we say: If the owner of the station has not raised the price of the gasoline for the sake of the prize, and has not taken anything for the card he gives to the one who consumes the gasoline—meaning he deals with people like other stations—then there is no blame on him for offering a prize. Because in this case, the buyer is either a winner or safe. No, if it were either a winner or a loser, it would be forbidden, because it would be gambling. But it is either a winner or safe.
And the rule is: If the contract includes either profit or safety, then there is nothing wrong with it, because the contracting party is not harmed; either he gains the benefit, or he is deprived of the benefit, but he is not harmed. For this reason, we said that if some newspapers that hold contests raise their price, it is not permissible to enter the contest, because you have lost the extra amount in the price; either you get it back and more, or you are deprived of it. But if the price remains the same, and the person is one who is accustomed to purchasing this newspaper, and he says, "I will enter the contest because I have not lost anything, and I am practicing reading in this newspaper," then there is nothing wrong with it.
The Shaykh : If he is truthful in what he says, then were we not in the Sacred Mosque, I would have entered into a contract with him, because if he fills up with one thousand—what was it?—one thousand liters, I would give him a car. This would never be the case, but some stations offer a prize to whoever buys a large quantity. So we say: If the owner of the station has not raised the price of the gasoline for the sake of the prize, and has not taken anything for the card he gives to the one who consumes the gasoline—meaning he deals with people like other stations—then there is no blame on him for offering a prize. Because in this case, the buyer is either a winner or safe. No, if it were either a winner or a loser, it would be forbidden, because it would be gambling. But it is either a winner or safe.
And the rule is: If the contract includes either profit or safety, then there is nothing wrong with it, because the contracting party is not harmed; either he gains the benefit, or he is deprived of the benefit, but he is not harmed. For this reason, we said that if some newspapers that hold contests raise their price, it is not permissible to enter the contest, because you have lost the extra amount in the price; either you get it back and more, or you are deprived of it. But if the price remains the same, and the person is one who is accustomed to purchasing this newspaper, and he says, "I will enter the contest because I have not lost anything, and I am practicing reading in this newspaper," then there is nothing wrong with it.