Back to search

Is it permissible to play football and participate in football tournaments by collecting money from players in three stages, with the winner ultimately receiving gifts, and is this type considered a form of Maysir (gambling)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Competitions in which participants pay money, and then the winner takes this money or a prize is bought for him from it, are forbidden, except for those that involve training for jihad in the way of Allah, or encouraging the pursuit of knowledge, or refuting the misconceptions of the polytheists. This type of competition falls under prohibited gambling and betting. It has been narrated from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him: "There is no prize money except for archery, camel racing, or horse racing," which are instruments of jihad. Some scholars have analogized to these everything that aids in jihad and the propagation of religion, such as competitions in Quran, Hadith, and Fiqh. If the prize money is paid by a party not participating in the competition, this does not fall under prohibited gambling. However, if the payment is from the contestants themselves, then it is prohibited gambling.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy