By a Student of Darul Uloom,
CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION
THE DEFINITION OF GAMBLING
THE PROHIBITION OF GAMBLING
THE NOBLE SAHAABAH'S SPIRIT OF OBEDIENCE AFTER THE ORDER OF PROHIBITION
CROSSWORD PUZZLES
THE PRIZE WINNING TICKETS OF (CAR) SHOWS AND EXHIBITIONS
HORSE RACING
LOTTERY
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INTRODUCTION
Gambling has unfortunately become an acceptable practise in Muslim Society due to its wide scale promotion by the media. A large number of good Muslims are also caught in the web, not realising that they are gambling and that the earnings from the gambling are haraam.
The following is a translation of a scholarly article by the late Mufti Muhammad Shafi rahmatullahi alaihe which is being published to make Muslims aware of the different forms of transactions and other items which are classified in Shar'iah as gambling.
THE DEFINITION OF GAMBLING
Every transaction in which gain and loss is obscure is known as Qimaar' and 'Maisar' in the Shar'iah terminology, and as 'Juwa' in the Urdu language. For instance, if two people compete in a race with the following conditions, that if you surpass me, then I will give you a thousand pounds and if I surpass you then you will have to give me a thousand pounds. Or if someone says, 'If it rains today you will have to give me a thousand pounds and if it does not rain then I will give you a thousand pounds.'
Likewise if some packed boxes are being sold for a fixed price, for example four pounds per box and some of the boxes have contents with a value of five pounds with others containing a value of two pounds, then the purchase of these boxes will be Qimaar. Because of the obscurity of the gain and loss. There are numerous methods of gambling and in every age and region, gambling has been played in different forms and methods.
There was a certain procedure amongst the Arabs for gambling. There would be ten arrows, each with a special name, all having different shares allocated to them, for example, one share, two shares, three shares, etc. There would also be some without a share at all. They would then jumble the arrows and ask someone to pick an arrow for each person. Whichever arrow was picked out for a person, that would be his allocated share and thereafter would be considered the owner of it. On the other hand, whosoever happened to acquire a share-less arrow he would receive nothing at all. The custom, which went hand in hand with this, was that a camel would be slaughtered and distributed according to the shares entitled to them by the arrows. A person who was unlucky would not only be deprived of the camel meat but he would also have to pay for that camel. This kind of gambling has been labelled Maisar and Azlaam by the Qur'aan. Maisar is that particular camel which is slaughtered and distributed because of gambling and Azlaam are the arrows that are used to define the amount of the shares in gambling. Apart from this, gambling was prevalent in trade in different forms. They were known as Mulamasa and Munabaza, etc., the prohibition of which is present in the Ahaadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihe wasallam.
Before the advent of Islam, gambling was not only customary but also taken to be a cause of pride, nobility and honour. For excessive show of pride, these people would distribute their share of the winnings amongst the poor.
(Tafseer-ul-Kabeer Lir-Razi vol 2 p231)
