What is the ruling on taking a sum of money in exchange for participating in a mobile phone auction, taking into account that this amount includes the value of additional information added to the call, and that participation in the auction is considered an additional service provided to the caller, with an option for the buyer in the contracts, and the possibility of separating the inquiry fee from the auction participation fee? Can the value of entering the auction be considered part of the entry fee mentioned in the resolution of the Islamic Fiqh Academy, "There is no شرعًا (religiously) legally objectionable impediment to collecting an entry fee - the value of the terms and conditions booklet"? What are the controls for determining this price, and what is the ruling on setting the bidding value at one dinar per operation?
It is impermissible to set a fixed value for participation in an auction, whether in person or by phone, because the participant pays it hoping to make a purchase, and they may not succeed in doing so, thus losing their money without consideration. This falls under gambling (qimar) and excessive uncertainty (gharar). It is permissible only to charge a fee for actual services provided to the participant, such as registering their request and providing them with information. This fee can be added to the cost of the call. The decision of the Islamic Fiqh Academy to permit charging an entrance fee is equivalent in this case to taking the actual cost of providing the participant with information, including employee wages, company profit, and whatever is necessary to complete that process.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
Read the full answer on Ftawyhttps://ftawy.com/en/questions/80117