Is the act of a telecommunications company that conducts a competition based on points for using its services, and replaces these (points) through a lottery with gold pieces or mobile phones, considered a forbidden act and usury?

There is no harm in telecommunications companies' offers and incentives, such as free gifts, provided that the subscriber does not pay more than the usual price for the recharge. Similarly, Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen permitted prizes if goods were sold at their market value.

However, it is not permissible to enter a prize draw competition based on these points, because that is gambling and Maysir (games of chance), as the subscriber oscillates between profit and loss for their points. This is the forbidden Maysir, about which Allah Almighty says: (O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone altars [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may succeed) Al-Ma'idah/90. This is what jurists like Al-Subki and Ibn Hajar Al-Makki affirmed, and Sheikh Ibn Uthaymeen emphasized that any transaction that fluctuates between gain and loss, where it is unknown whether the transactor will profit or lose, is forbidden and among the major sins. Its prohibition is because it is gambling, not usury.