Cash Prizes Offered by Supermarkets: Permissible?

12 July, 2018

Q As-salamu `alaykum. Many shopping centers and hypermarkets have offers where they give raffle draw coupons on certain amounts of shopping, and you get the opportunity to win cash prizes, cars and other valuables. In my opinion, I believe them to be impermissible. However, some argue it to be right. At best, I can say it falls in the gray area. My question is: is this sort of raffle draw halal?

Answer

Wa `alaykum as-Salamuwa Rahmatullahi waBarakatuh.

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

In this fatwa:

The prizes based on the offers given by shopping centers and hypermarkets are permissible as long as the prices are still normal.

In his response to your question, Prof. Dr. Monzer Kahf, Professor of Islamic Finance and Economics at Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies, states:

Yes, the prizes referred to in your questions are permissible. It is a way to make advertisement without any violation of the Shari`ah as long as their prices remain normal (although many shops normally offer reduced prices with these prizes).

A problem may arise if there is a payment for these coupons to enter the draw (i.e., for the chance) whether direct or hidden under higher prices of the items included.

Distribution of prizes on the basis of random draw is permissible. What is prohibited is charging a price for this chance.

Almighty Allah knows best.

Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.