Q1004: What is the case of trading cards, playing them, and watching others playing them?

A: following some of the most learned religious jurist, I believe that playing with gambling instruments with no intention of gambling and with the purpose of playing and amusing oneself is legal, but if the purpose is to gamble at cards, it will be certainly illegal.

Q1005: What is the case of the money earned through gambling? And what if the money is given to charity?

A: The money earned through gambling is illegal, whether it is little or a lot, whether one uses it him/herself or gives it to charity, as gambling itself is illegal; it must be notified that fire (here the illegal act and the illegal money) does not extinguish fire (here divine punishment), as it is said in the Holy Quran, “and Allah accepts the good from the God-fearing and the Righteous”.

Contest and Shooting

Q1006: What kinds of the common contests are considered legal according to the Islamic rules?

A: Generally, any game, contest etc., with gambling instruments will be illegal if it is along with gambling and betting, but if it is just some kind of amusement, such as soccer, volleyball, skiing etc., it will not be illegal, and there is no evidence to render the prizes which are prepared through Mubah acts for such matches illegal, and they are basically legal and permissible; and in such cases, there is no difference between the prizes awarded by others and the one’s which are prepared by the players themselves, and even in the latter case, it is not accounted as gambling; therefore, it is not illegal.