What is the ruling on competitions held on radio stations?
المسابقات التي تقوم بها الإذاعات عن طريق الاتصال ما حكمها؟
Fatwas / Sales Fatawa / What is the ruling on competitions held on radio stations?
Question
What is the ruling on competitions held on radio stations?
المسابقات التي تقوم بها الإذاعات عن طريق الاتصال ما حكمها؟
Answer
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.
To proceed:
In response to your question, we say, and with Allah Almighty lies all success:
The reality of competitions held through communication media is that many of them are ways of extortion. Most of these competitions are not aimed at benefiting people, but rather they are meant to attract people to these channels and extort them if the caller uses his money when calling to participate. Most of them fall under gambling which Allah the Exalted mentioned in the verse: “O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), gambling, AlAnsab, and AlAzlam (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaitan's (Satan) handiwork.” [al-Maaidah: 90].
It is incumbent upon a Muslim to avoid these types of competitions. The competitions which are allowed in Islam according to the opinion of a group of scholars comprising of the Hanafites and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah are those that preserve the religion, impart knowledge to people, beneficial on shari’a matters and enlighten people on what they need to know about their religion.
However, with regards to types of competitions we are seeing today; in reality it is a type of gambling which I advise my brothers on leaving, and whoever won anything from these competitions while knowing the ruling on these competitions, then he should know that he had an unlawful gain. And whoever participated without knowledge and won can use the money in whatever he wishes because it is a lawful gain.
Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.
To proceed:
In response to your question, we say, and with Allah Almighty lies all success:
The reality of competitions held through communication media is that many of them are ways of extortion. Most of these competitions are not aimed at benefiting people, but rather they are meant to attract people to these channels and extort them if the caller uses his money when calling to participate. Most of them fall under gambling which Allah the Exalted mentioned in the verse: “O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), gambling, AlAnsab, and AlAzlam (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaitan's (Satan) handiwork.” [al-Maaidah: 90].
It is incumbent upon a Muslim to avoid these types of competitions. The competitions which are allowed in Islam according to the opinion of a group of scholars comprising of the Hanafites and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah are those that preserve the religion, impart knowledge to people, beneficial on shari’a matters and enlighten people on what they need to know about their religion.
However, with regards to types of competitions we are seeing today; in reality it is a type of gambling which I advise my brothers on leaving, and whoever won anything from these competitions while knowing the ruling on these competitions, then he should know that he had an unlawful gain. And whoever participated without knowledge and won can use the money in whatever he wishes because it is a lawful gain.