EDUCATIONAL CONTESTS IN NEWSPAPERS & CONTESTS WHERE BUYING SOMETHING IS A NECESSARY CONDITION OF ENTRY

EDUCATIONAL CONTESTS IN NEWSPAPERS &

CONTESTS WHERE BUYING SOMETHING IS A NECESSARY CONDITION OF ENTRY

ASSEMBLED BY MALLAM ABBA ABANA, KUBWA, ABUJA, NIGERIA

http://variousislamicdawadocuments.blogspot.com

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Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah. As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu. Praise be to Allaah; we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (Sallalhu alaihi Wasalam) is His slave and Messenger.

 

1.0 RULING ON EDUCATIONAL CONTESTS IN NEWSPAPERS

1.1 GAMBLING IS HARAAM ACCORDING TO SHAREE’AH

The Muslims are unanimously agreed that gambling is haraam according to sharee’ah, and that it is consuming people’s wealth unlawfully. 

Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al‑Ansaab (stone altars for sacrifices to false gods, idols etc), and Al‑Azlaam (arrows for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaytaan’s (Satan’s) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful.91. Shaytaan (Satan) wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants (alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allaah and from As‑Salaah (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?”[Holy Quran al-Maa'idah 5:90-91],

The scholars counted gambling as one of the major sins. See: I’laam al-Muwaqqi’een (4/309) and al-Zawaajir (2/328) 

Concerning the reason for the revelation of the verse quoted above, it was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: During the Jaahiliyyah, a man would bet his family and wealth against another man, and whichever of them won, he would take the wealth and family of the other. So this verse was revealed. Narrated by al-Tabari in Jaami’ al-Bayaan (2/369). 

Hence the scholars laid down the important principle which refers to what is meant by gambling. They said: It is a situation where anyone who participates in it will either win or lose i.e., he pays a sum of money, which is his bet, and he will either lose it all or win the amount stated in the contest, as in the case of lotteries. 

Based on this, it is only gambling if the person who enters the contest pays some amount of money which he risks losing. This money may be called by several names, none of which change the ruling on gambling in the slightest. They may call it an entry fee or the price of buying a ticket to enter the contest and so on. It is all gambling. 

But if the contestant does not pay anything to enter the contest, then this is not regarded as gambling and there is nothing wrong with entering. 

1.2 PERMISSIBLE TO TAKE PART IN EDUCATIONAL CONTESTS AND ACCEPT PRIZES OR NOT: 

There remains the issue of educational contests that are published in newspapers and magazines – is it permissible to take part in them and accept prizes or not? 

Some scholars are of the view that it is haraam to take part in these contests. 

Shaykh Ibn Jibreen (may Allaah preserve him) was asked the following question (Fataawa fi’l-Buyoo’, question no. 43): 

What is the ruling on contests held by newspapers and magazines? 

He replied: Undoubtedly these contests that are held by newspapers and magazines only serve their own interests, such as increasing their sales and circulation, thus making much more money from sales than they give in prizes, even though there is nothing to distinguish this paper from others, and it may in fact contain corrupt and evil material, indecent pictures and reprehensible articles. They seek to increase their circulation by means of these prizes. Based on this, it is not permissible to take part in these contests, because that is encouraging them and strengthening their newspapers. And Allaah knows best. End quote. 

We have quoted the fatwa of Shaykh Ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) stating that these contests are haraam. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was of the view that these contests are permissible subject to two conditions: 

1 –That the contestant buys the product or newspaper because he needs it. If he is only buying it because of the contest then it is not permissible, because in that case it is a kind of gambling, as the contestant is risking the money that he pays (the price of the newspaper) in return for the possibility of winning the contest. 

Based on that, if he buys the newspaper not in order to read it but only to cut out the coupon for the contest, or he buys more than one copy of the newspaper, then his entering the contest is haraam and is a kind of gambling. 

2 – The price of the product or newspaper should not be raised for the sake of the contest. If the newspaper cost 3 Dollars then it is raised to 4 Dollars because of the contest, then entering it is haraam, because this extra amount is because of the contest, so it is also a kind of gambling.See: As’ilat al-Baab il-Maftooh by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (1162). 

Based on this, your taking part in the contest is permissible, because you did not buy the newspaper for the sake of the contest, so long as the price of the newspaper was not raised because of the contest. 

2.0 RULING ON CONTESTS WHERE BUYING SOMETHING IS A NECESSARY CONDITION OF ENTRY

With regard to contests which consist of a draw for prizes, if the person who wants to enter the contest can only do so by paying a sum of money, whether large or small, in such a way that there is the possibility of his losing this money and this chance is very high, such as the chances of winning being 1 in 10,000 or more, then this kind of contest comes under the HEADING OF GAMBLING. This is what is known nowadays as a LOTTERY OR RAFFLE. For example, one person offers his car for $100,000, and he issues ten thousand tickets, selling each ticket for ten Dollars, then he makes a draw and one ticket will win while all the others lose.

But if the contest does not require participants to pay money, such as Qur’aan-reading contests for old and young, and it does not dictate that responses be given on a certain type of paper, then these competitions are permissible and may be mustahabb (encouraged), because they offer an incentive to recite the Book of Allaah and learn about its meanings. A similar case is the academic competitions where no loss is involved in entering the contest as the answers may be given on any kind of paper.

Based on the above, we can say that the newspaper competitions which are widespread in our media are a kind of lottery, whereby the entrant loses the value of the ticket in most cases, and very rarely wins. Undoubtedly this is a form of gambling, consuming people’s wealth unlawfully, deceiving people and wasting money. One of the editors of one of our newspapers told me that the paper he edits used to print forty thousand copies daily, of which nearly ten thousand copies would be returned. After this newspaper started to run contests, their print run rose to 300,000 copies daily, with no copies being returned. Contestants were buying huge numbers of papers, not to read them but just to cut out the entry forms so that they could enter the contests by submitting more than one form.

Undoubtedly this is a kind of lottery and is a kind of gambling. I wish that our brothers who are in charge of our newspapers would fear Allaah with regard to their country and their countrymen and with regard to their earnings. I wish that those who are responsible for the media, those who are in charge of the press, would take a stand that is in accordance with the Islamic identity of our country and free themselves from blame before Allaah with regard to their responsibility to enjoin that which is good and forbid that which is evil.

The same applies to the TV contests which can only be entered by buying a certain chip for entering contests, and the draws run by stores via tickets which are only given to those who spend more than a certain amount. This means that the ticket has a value which is paid for in the bill, and this comes under the heading of a lottery or raffle.

Also included with these practices – contests run by newspapers, TV stations and stores – are the deposit certificates which permit entry to contests by giving depositors tickets, as mentioned in the question. The reason why these are included under the heading of lotteries or raffles even though the bank returns the deposit in full after the contest has ended is that the deposit has to remain frozen in the bank until the end of the draw, and this means that this deposit is rendered inactive and is not invested in favour of the one who deposits it; rather it is invested in favour of the bank and not in favour of its owner. What the bank takes from its investment of this deposit is equal to the amount of money paid by the one who wants to enter the contest in return for the deposit certificate, hence this practice comes under the same ruling as lotteries and raffles. Al-Da’wah magazine, issue # 1796, p. 19

And Allaah knows best.

REFERENCES

Praise be to Allaah. https://islamqa.info/en/89746

Islam Q&A, https://islamqa.info/en/20993