Is the program "The Road to Makkah," shown on "Iqraa" channel, considered a form of gambling, especially with the high cost of subscription messages, despite Sheikh Muhammad Al-Arifi's fatwa permitting it?

If the cost of competition messages exceeds the price of regular messages, then it is not permissible to participate in it, as it is a form of gambling. This is because the sender pays the extra cost in order to obtain a prize, and this may or may not materialize. Thus, one either wins the prize or loses what was paid, and this is a form of forbidden gambling.