Respected Sir, As Salam o Alaikum !!! I, along with my team mates, recently invited one of our friends to join us in a sports tournament (cricket to be specific), to which he replied that he cannot participate as the Event Management is asking for (approx.) SAR 300.00 as 'entry fee' and all they are giving to the winners, runners-up are trophies and medals to the team members, which (as a bottom line) is gambling. Sir, can you kindly elaborate to me (& to my friends) what 'gambling' actually is, and whether or not all sort of sports come under the circle of 'gambling', even though it may not involve betting of any sort. I agree that the trophies and medals do not cost that much, but even the curators and the event managers deserve to be paid for the hard work that they are putting in to get any sort of tournament going. Your most elaborate & explanatory reply would be highly appreciated and may stop us from doing something that is prohibited by Allah, or guide our friend to what the FACT is.

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

If the fees that are paid are for the prize or for part of it and it is the participants in the game that pay it, then it is not permissible to participate in it as this is forbidden gambling. Ibn Hajar Al-Haythami said: “If he (one of the two competitors) conditions that whoever wins amongst them he has to pay the other such and such, then this is not permissible.” That is because the participant in this game either wins or loses and this is forbidden gambling.

However, if the entry fees are for the services that those who run the game offer for the participants, and the prize is offered by a volunteer who is not participating in the game, or that it is offered by some participants only, then the most preponderant opinion is that it is permissible to participate in this game, but they must abide by the Islamic requirements when playing, like covering the ‘Awrah (parts of the body that must be covered in Islam), avoiding forbidden mixing and the like. For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 87600.

Allaah Knows best.