Imam Khamenei – Lottery

Q1. What is the ruling in the matter of selling and buying lottery tickets? And what is the view if any prize is won in the process?

Answer: Buying and selling lottery tickets are, by obligatory caution, ḥarām. It does not belong to the person winning the prize, nor is he allowed to receive it.

Q2. What is the ruling of buying tickets in the name of ‘social welfare gifts’ which are distributed among people?

Answer: There is no shar‘ī objection to publishing and distributing tickets for collecting people’s contributions and using them in charity and encouraging the contributors through stipulation of drawing lots. Also, paying for such tickets with the intention of participating in charitable matters is no problem.

Q3. A person offered his car for sale by way of lottery. It works like this: Those willing to take part in the draw buy the ticket for a certain amount. After the specified period is up and the target money achieved, the draw takes place. The holder of the winning ticket would own the car. Is this way of giving the car through drawing a lot permissible in the Islamic law?

Answer: Buying and selling those tickets are, by obligatory caution, ḥarām. The prize (car) does not belong to the person winning the prize; rather, for its ownership, the car’s owner should transfer its ownership to him through a valid shar‘ī contract, like selling, presenting, or ṣulḥ.

Q4. Is it permissible to sell bonds destined for collecting people’s charitable donations with the intention of making a draw at a later date, then some of the money collected would be distributed among the participants as gifts and the remaining proceeds are dedicated to projects of public benefit?

Answer: Naming this work as “selling” is incorrect. However, there is no harm in distributing these bonds in the avenues that serve charitable causes. It is permissible to encourage potential donors by promising them prizes by way of a draw provided that people obtain these bonds with the intention of taking part in charitable causes.

Ayatollah Sistani – Lottery

Q1: I work at an exchange office but they also make me sell lottery. Is it permitted to sell lottery in this case?

Answer: Buying and selling lottery tickets are not permissible. Yes, it is permissible to take part in a lottery with the intention to contribute in a charitable project such as building a mosque or a bridge not with the intention of earning a profit or a prize.

Q2: [Lottery] is a well-known game in America and is the closest thing to [yanasib], if it is not exactly the same. Is it permissible for a Muslim to engage in the sale of lotteries with special machines with the justification that it is rescuing (istinqadh) wealth from the hands of unbelievers?

Answer: If he is authorized by an established company to offer and distribute them (lottery tickets) among non-Muslims, then it is permitted and he should seize the wealth with the justification of rescuing (istinqadh) it and not with the intent of selling (the lottery tickets). Alternatively, the Muslim seller takes it (money) in return for his relinquishment of his right (over the lottery tickets), if he had any special right over them.

Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi – Lottery

Issue 01: The sale and purchase of things that are obtained by means of gambling or theft or an invalid transaction is unlawful and invalid. It is not allowed to utilize it. When someone purchases it, it is obligatory upon him to return it the original owner, if he is aware of him. When he is not aware of the original owner, he acts in accordance with whatever the Religious Authority has ordered (him to do).

Issue 02: Tools and Machines for Haram Purposes

Manufacturing or dealing in items, tools, or machines that are exclusively used for haram purposes is absolutely forbidden. For example: gambling machine, idols, etc.
Similarly, it is forbidden for a Muslim builder or contractor to build a place of worship for non-Muslims in a non-Muslim country.

Question: Is it permissible to work as a cashier in such a convenience store that also sells lottery tickets?

Answer: Selling lottery is haram. However, working as a cashier in a convenient store is not haram even though it is haram to sell lottery tickets. (The implication is that even though the cashier’s job is legitimate but that portion of the salary which represents the percentage of work done in selling lottery tickets will not be considered legitimate.)

However, there is no problem in dealing in machines of dual- or multi-purpose nature which include haram purposes but are not exclusively used for such things, like radio, television, etc.