Buying tickets to win prizes in a draw or Bingo/Housie resembles gambling

15-12-2014 | IslamWeb

Question:

Question 1: In our community we celebrate yearly Get-Together event, to host this event we have sponsors for prizes or collect donation amount from selected members and also sell entry tickets (each has unique numbers) to all the attendees (a person can buy any number of tickets).At the end of event there is a lucky draw and few members/attendees get the prizes in lucky draw for tickets (each has unique numbers). Is this permissible in Islam? Question 2: very similar to Question 1 In our community we celebrate yearly Get-Together event, to host this event we collect donation amount from selected persons and also sell entry tickets (each has unique numbers) to all the attendees (a person can buy any number of tickets).We have lot of events in the Get-Together one among them is we play BINGO/HOUSIE (description below) and winner is given the prize. BINGO/HOUSIE: Bingo or Housie is a game. Players mark off numbers on a ticket as they are randomly called out, in order to achieve a winning combination (First row/line, Second row/line, Third row/line, Full House etc.) . A typical Housie/Bingo paper/ticket contains fifteen numbers, arranged in nine columns by three rows. Each row contains five numbers and four blank spaces. Each column contains either one, two, or three, numbers. The game is presided over by a caller, whose job it is to call out the numbers and validate winning tickets. The caller will then usually say "Eyes down" to indicate that he is about to start. He then begins to call numbers as they are randomly selected, either by an electronic Random Number Generator (RNG), by drawing counters from a bag or by using balls in a mechanical draw machine. Wiki on Housie/Bingo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingo_(Commonwealth) Is this permissible in Islam?

---

Answer:

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, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

The process described in the question is very similar to gambling because buying tickets to participate in a prize drawing or a game in order to win a prize is considered gambling, which is prohibited in Islam.

Some of the attendees may not be after the prizes and simply want to attend this get-together; there is no harm in that. However, it is difficult to control people’s intentions concerning this, especially as you have mentioned that the attendees can buy any number of tickets in order to increase their chances in winning the prizes or participating in the game and accordingly winning the prizes. Therefore, this is impermissible.

It is permissible, though, to organize a prize drawing if the attendees are not charged anything for participation.

Allaah Knows best.