A library announces that whoever pays five hundred riyals per month, for example, will be supplied with new books in specialized subjects such as fiqh, and will receive a 10% discount on
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The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The question, O honorableThe Shaykh : is that some commercial libraries have an announcement stating that whoever pays a specific amount of money per month, for example five hundred riyals or similar, will receive two things:
The first thing: they will be supplied with new books in specialized subjects like fiqh and the like.
And they will also be given a discount card for ten percent if they come to buy. So what is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh : Did you understand the question now? It says: there is an announcement that if one pays five hundred riyals per month, or more or less, they will be given the specialized books they request, and a discount rate will be applied to other books.
Our answer to this is that this is a type of gambling (maysir) about which Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Ma'idah 5:90].
And gambling (maysir) is: every transaction based on chance, where one is either a winner or a loser. This is the legal principle regarding gambling. So this man who pays five hundred riyals every month, for example, might buy books where the discount amount is more than one thousand riyals, for example, or he might not buy anything. If we assume he buys books where the discount is more than five hundred riyals, then he becomes the winner and the shop owner becomes the loser, because he incurs a loss. If he does not buy, then the shop owner becomes the winner and this man becomes the loser, because he paid five hundred riyals and found no equivalent for it. So this transaction is gambling and is not permissible.
The truth is that such transactions have become very widespread now. If we were to get rid of the usury (riba) on which many of today's banks are based in many of their transactions, we would be entangled in what? In gambling (maysir). These transactions and chances have become numerous now. So if we assume that usury is reduced, as is the current trend of some banks opening Islamic branches that deal according to the requirements of the Shari'ah, these calamities in transactions will come to us, and they are the calamities of gambling. So it is obligatory for us to stop this, every transaction that involves chance, where one is either a winner or a loser.
The question, O honorableThe Shaykh : is that some commercial libraries have an announcement stating that whoever pays a specific amount of money per month, for example five hundred riyals or similar, will receive two things:
The first thing: they will be supplied with new books in specialized subjects like fiqh and the like.
And they will also be given a discount card for ten percent if they come to buy. So what is the ruling on this?
The Shaykh : Did you understand the question now? It says: there is an announcement that if one pays five hundred riyals per month, or more or less, they will be given the specialized books they request, and a discount rate will be applied to other books.
Our answer to this is that this is a type of gambling (maysir) about which Allah the Exalted said:
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّمَا الْخَمْرُ وَالْمَيْسِرُ وَالْأَنْصَابُ وَالْأَزْلامُ رِجْسٌ مِنْ عَمَلِ الشَّيْطَانِAnd gambling (maysir) is: every transaction based on chance, where one is either a winner or a loser. This is the legal principle regarding gambling. So this man who pays five hundred riyals every month, for example, might buy books where the discount amount is more than one thousand riyals, for example, or he might not buy anything. If we assume he buys books where the discount is more than five hundred riyals, then he becomes the winner and the shop owner becomes the loser, because he incurs a loss. If he does not buy, then the shop owner becomes the winner and this man becomes the loser, because he paid five hundred riyals and found no equivalent for it. So this transaction is gambling and is not permissible.
The truth is that such transactions have become very widespread now. If we were to get rid of the usury (riba) on which many of today's banks are based in many of their transactions, we would be entangled in what? In gambling (maysir). These transactions and chances have become numerous now. So if we assume that usury is reduced, as is the current trend of some banks opening Islamic branches that deal according to the requirements of the Shari'ah, these calamities in transactions will come to us, and they are the calamities of gambling. So it is obligatory for us to stop this, every transaction that involves chance, where one is either a winner or a loser.