What is the ruling on the prizes that gas stations offer to customers?
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The questioner : The honorable Shaykh, some gas stations offer prizes, for example, five hundred liters or one thousand liters, without any increase in the price. If the car owner buys, they give him a paper, and at the end of every month, a drawing is held. Perhaps he wins one thousand liters or five hundred liters. What is your opinion, O honorable one, on this matter?
The Shaykh : By Allah, I see, may Allah protect you, that if the buyer is buying for his need, not in order to win the prize, that is one thing, and it was a cause... then there is no harm in that, because this buyer is either a winner or safe; he has no loss. He is buying the gasoline in any case, so either he gets this prize or he is safe. The forbidden contract is the one in which the contracting party is between a winner or a loser. But if it is between a winner or a safe person, then there is no harm in it.
The Shaykh : By Allah, I see, may Allah protect you, that if the buyer is buying for his need, not in order to win the prize, that is one thing, and it was a cause... then there is no harm in that, because this buyer is either a winner or safe; he has no loss. He is buying the gasoline in any case, so either he gets this prize or he is safe. The forbidden contract is the one in which the contracting party is between a winner or a loser. But if it is between a winner or a safe person, then there is no harm in it.