Gambling in Islaam Part One by Mufti Afzal Hoosen Elias

GAMBLING AND GAMES OF CHANCE ARE TOTALLY HARAAM

The words "Qimaar" and "Maysar" are synonymous in meaning and is translated as "Gambling or Wagering" in English. The Aayaat in the Quraan which prohibit gambling are as follows:

1. "People ask you about liquor and gambling, say to them there are great evils in both these things along with some benefit but the harms far exceed the benefit. (Surah Baqarah 219)

2"O you who believe! Without doubt liquor, gambling, idols and gambling with arrows are all filthy, the actions of Shaytaan. Therefore, totally abstain from them so that you may be successful." (Surah Maaidah 90)

In both these verses the word "Maysir" has been used for gambling which is synonymous with the word "Qimar". As such, Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Umar y says: "Maysir refers to Qimar."

3. Apart from this, Muhammad bin Sireen, Mujaahid, Saeed bin Musayyib, Saeeb bin Jabeer, Qatadah, Hasan Basri, Taoos, Ata bin Abi Rabah, Siddi and Dhahhaak have also agreed that "Maysir" and Qimar" have the same meaning. (Tafseer Ibn Jareer Tabari v-2 pg. 358)

Nabi-e-Kareem (S.A.W) emphasized so much on abstaining from gambling that he not only established gambling to be Haraam but also established the fact that merely expressing an intention to gamble is also a sin. If anyone invites another person towards gambling, he is commanded to give Sadaqah as Kaffarah for his sin. As such, this narration of Nabi-e-Kareem (S.A.W) is mentioned in Sahih Bukhaari:

"A person who says to someone, 'Come, let me gamble with you,' should give something as Sadaqah."

4. The reality of gambling was so well known and famous in Arabia that every person was aware of its meaning and they referred to every such dealing as gambling in which an amount of money was placed as a wager based on an uncertain event whereby he will either totally loose the entire amount or he will win an amount equal to or exceeding his wager without any exchange. The Arabs referred to this form of gambling as 'Mukhatarah' (wherein both parties place their wealth as wagers). As such, Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbas with reference to the commentary on the word 'Maysar' in verse from Surah Baqarah quoted above, states: Maysar is gambling wherein a person during the days of ignorance placed as a wager, his family or wealth and whoever won the wager took the family or wealth of the other person.

(Tafseer ibn Jareer pg. 358 vol. 2)

We come to learn from this explanation by Hadhrat Abdullaah bin Abbas that not only wealth was gambled with, but at times people even placed their wives as wagers in a bet. One form of this type of gambling is referred to as 'the arrow of gambling' in Surah Maaidah. This was done as follows, during the days of ignorance people used to slaughter their camels and cut it up into different sized pieces. Each piece was allocated a name and that name was attached to an arrow. All these arrows were put together with arrows that had no names attached to them and consequently, were not linked to any piece of meat. After having put them all together a single arrow was chosen on behalf of each participant in the wager who would then receive the piece of meat whose name appeared on that arrow. The person who drew an arrow, to which no name was attached, not only received no share of the meat, but also had to pay the price for the entire camel. This practice in the Arabic language is termed, 'Istiqsaam bil Azlaam' which has been labelled as Haraam in numerous verses of the Quraan.

Similarly, gambling also took place in relation to horse racing. Two individuals would participate in a horse race wherein it was agreed upon that the loser would give to the winner a certain amount of money. This too, was included in gambling by Nabi and announced as Haraam. (Refer to Sunan Abu Dawood Kitabul Jihaad)

6. Winning and losing was attached to different games among the Arabs which were also rendered Haraam by the abovementioned verses of the Qur'aan.

7. Keeping in mind the different forms of gambling and its renowned reality, the Muslim Ummah till today has had no form of disagreement with reference to its impermissibility, nor has there been any doubt with regard to its reality. All the same, the respected Fuqaha have mentioned through different definitions. The definition of gambling, which is renowned among the Fuqaha, is the following:

This has been translated into the Urdu language in the clearest terms by Mufti Shafee Sahib in his Tafseer 'Ma'aariful Quraan'. He says:

"The definition of gambling is this, a transaction wherein one becoming the possessor of wealth is dependant on such a condition whose presence and absence are both equally possible and on this basis, pure gain or pure loss are both equally possible." (Shami pg. 355 vol. 5)

As an example, it is possible for Zayd to incur a loss and it is also possible for Umar to incur a loss. In whatever form this occurred in former times, are present today or will come into existence in the future are all included in and termed as gambling. (Tafseer Ma'aariful Quraan pg. 533 vol. 1 Surah Baqarah)

8. Keeping all these forms and definitions in mind this fact becomes crystal clear that the necessary ingredients for gambling are as follows: 1. Gambling is a transaction between two or more parties. 2. One places one's wealth as a wager with the object of acquiring someone else's wealth. 3. In gambling, wherein one wants to acquire someone else's wealth, such acquisition is dependant on some uncertain event beyond one's control. The possibility of its occurrence and nonoccurrence both exist. 4. The wealth which is placed as a wager goes to the other person without receiving anything in exchange as a result of which the person suffers pure loss and on the other hand the winner receives wealth without having to give anything in exchange as a result of which he enjoys pure gain.

Any such transaction, in which these four factors are to be found, will be included in gambling and will be Haraam in the light of the Shariah. As such, this transaction can take many different forms but two forms of gambling are prominent.

THE FIRST FORM OF GAMBLING The first form of gambling is one wherein any one party is not obliged to make some sort of payment with certainty but it is rather a situation wherein both parties will have to make a payment based on some uncertain event. As an example, a race or challenge takes place between A and B and both promise from inception that the loser will give to the winner the sum of one thousand Rands. In this example, there is no certainty of either party making payment but is rather dependant on either winning or losing. Similarly, the wagers placed on different forms of uncertain events are also included in this form of gambling. As an example, Zayd says to Umar, "If A wins in the competition, I will give you a thousand Rands and if B wins, you will give me a thousand Rands. This is the same type of gambling wherein either party makes payment on the occurrence of some indefinite condition. Yes, for gambling to take place, there has to be promise of payment from both sides, it is only one sided, it will not constitute gambling. As an example, Zayd says to Umar, "If A wins, I will give you a thousand Rands." In the case of B winning, Umar does not have to give anything from his side as a required condition of the agreement. In such a case, it will be one sided, which is not included in gambling. THE SECOND FORM OF GAMBLING

The second type of gambling is one wherein payment on the part of one party is definite and fixed and indefinite on the part of the other party. The party that makes payment with certainty is in reality placing a wager in such a manner whereby he will loose his wealth without receiving anything in exchange for it or will acquire an increase in wealth without having to give anything in exchange for it.