What is the ruling on purchasing products from companies that advertise prizes inside the product?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : May Allah reward you, Shaykh. We are your brothers; we visited you from Kuwait.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : If you would be so kind as to answer two questions, one of which is general because it is a phenomenon that has spread among us in Kuwait.
The Shaykh : One question.
The questioner : And there is a specific question.
The Shaykh : The most important one. Bring up the most important one, may Allah reward you.
The questioner : The most important one concerns my job.
The Shaykh : Go ahead. And if it is a private question that you do not want them to hear, keep it between you and me.
The questioner : That is the best thing.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : Shaykh, excuse me, there is a phenomenon that has spread in Kuwait, which is that many companies advertise the sale of their goods, stating that whoever buys, for example, for ten dinars or more, enters into a draw, and this draw includes cars and other prizes. This phenomenon has spread greatly in recent times, so we want to verify this. We heard from your eminence that this does not fall under the lottery, so we ask for confirmation of this?
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you, now merchants, and likewise manufacturers, have started to increase goods and industries, and they have saturated people with them. The houses, as you see now, each person has in his house several types of utensils, several types of furniture, and several types of clothing. So the companies now, as you know, are purely materialistic, and they make prizes: whoever buys such-and-such gets such-and-such a prize. We say: there is nothing wrong with this, provided two conditions are met:
The first condition: that the price, the price of the goods, is its true price, meaning: the price has not been raised for the sake of the prize. If the price is raised for the sake of the prize, then this is gambling and is not permissible.
The second condition: that a person does not buy in order to anticipate the prize. If he bought solely to anticipate the prize and had no interest in the goods, this would be a waste of money. We have heard that some people buy a box of milk or yogurt when they do not want it, but perhaps they will get the prize. They buy the milk and pour it out in the market or at the edge of their house. This is not permissible because it involves wasting money.
So this becomes permissible with two conditions:
The first condition: that the value of the goods is not raised for the sake of the prize, and the second condition: that he does not buy it to anticipate the prize, but buys it for a valid purpose. Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : Shaykh, may I ask a question?
The Shaykh : No, you are one of those who have taken their turn.
The questioner : I have a question.
The Shaykh : Wait until your turn comes, if Allah wills.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : If you would be so kind as to answer two questions, one of which is general because it is a phenomenon that has spread among us in Kuwait.
The Shaykh : One question.
The questioner : And there is a specific question.
The Shaykh : The most important one. Bring up the most important one, may Allah reward you.
The questioner : The most important one concerns my job.
The Shaykh : Go ahead. And if it is a private question that you do not want them to hear, keep it between you and me.
The questioner : That is the best thing.
The Shaykh : Very well.
The questioner : Shaykh, excuse me, there is a phenomenon that has spread in Kuwait, which is that many companies advertise the sale of their goods, stating that whoever buys, for example, for ten dinars or more, enters into a draw, and this draw includes cars and other prizes. This phenomenon has spread greatly in recent times, so we want to verify this. We heard from your eminence that this does not fall under the lottery, so we ask for confirmation of this?
The Shaykh : May Allah bless you, now merchants, and likewise manufacturers, have started to increase goods and industries, and they have saturated people with them. The houses, as you see now, each person has in his house several types of utensils, several types of furniture, and several types of clothing. So the companies now, as you know, are purely materialistic, and they make prizes: whoever buys such-and-such gets such-and-such a prize. We say: there is nothing wrong with this, provided two conditions are met:
The first condition: that the price, the price of the goods, is its true price, meaning: the price has not been raised for the sake of the prize. If the price is raised for the sake of the prize, then this is gambling and is not permissible.
The second condition: that a person does not buy in order to anticipate the prize. If he bought solely to anticipate the prize and had no interest in the goods, this would be a waste of money. We have heard that some people buy a box of milk or yogurt when they do not want it, but perhaps they will get the prize. They buy the milk and pour it out in the market or at the edge of their house. This is not permissible because it involves wasting money.
So this becomes permissible with two conditions:
The first condition: that the value of the goods is not raised for the sake of the prize, and the second condition: that he does not buy it to anticipate the prize, but buys it for a valid purpose. Yes, that is correct.
The questioner : Shaykh, may I ask a question?
The Shaykh : No, you are one of those who have taken their turn.
The questioner : I have a question.
The Shaykh : Wait until your turn comes, if Allah wills.