Are Fairground and Arcade Games with Guaranteed Prizes Permissible?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question
Some fairground and arcade games offer a guaranteed prize, where the only uncertainty is which prize you get, not whether you win one at all. In other cases, a person pays simply for the enjoyment of playing, with no real concern for winning. Elsewhere, arcade games are played for tickets or points that are later exchanged for a prize, where you are more or less guaranteed some return, only the amount is uncertain. Are these different setups permissible?
Answer
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.
All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all beings, and may peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad.
I pray you are well.
In situations where a price is guaranteed, you could consider the transaction as a sale. However, uncertainty in sales is a problem. If the disparity in the quality of the prize is going to lead to arguments or other issues, then it would be impermissible. Otherwise, it seems like there could be permissibility if there is a guaranteed price.
Paying for the opportunity to engage in the activity rests on the type of transaction. If it’s a chance transaction, then it would remain impermissible. In most situations, if a person wants to win something and the owner of the activity withholds the prize, most people would have an issue with this. Therefore, it remains a chance transaction. If one paid simply to have a go and nothing more, without even looking back for the prize, this would be permissible but a waste of money, so best avoided.
The arcade games you mentioned are akin to loot boxes in video games. Payment is made to get an unspecified digital currency from which things can later be purchased. This lack of specificity is the issue, and therefore, the transaction will not be permissible. [Maydani, al-Lubab]
And Allah knows best.
May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Related Answers
- Are Claw Games Haram? — Paying for a known service, with the prize as secondary, keeps a claw machine game from becoming gambling.
- Is It Permissible to Play Skill-Based Games and Win Prizes? — An entry fee that covers real costs differs from a wager, but two-way betting on the outcome remains gambling.
- Are Arcade Games Permissible to Play? — Paying for a chance at a redeemable prize is gambling, though playing purely for entertainment without redeeming tickets can be permissible.
- Is Loot Box Haram? Also, Is It Permissible to Play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) and Warzone? — Loot boxes are a form of gambling in Islamic law and should be avoided.
- Is Paying for Packs in a Video Game Gambling? — Paying for packs whose contents are unpredictable is treated as gambling.
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.
