May I Keep Gambling Winnings to Offset My Earlier Gambling Losses?
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Question
What should I do with the £2000 I earned through gambling previously? Is it possible to use this money to offset personal losses through gambling? I have spent more than £2000 of my own money over the years through gambling. The last occasion I spent £200 and won £2000. Can I keep this to offset losses, or do I need to dispose of it, and through which avenue? I have repented for this sin.
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.
No, you cannot keep your gambling winnings, even to offset your losses. Those losses result from a haram activity, so you must face them. Use this to consider why Allah has made gambling impermissible.
The winnings are haram income, and the way to atone for this is to remove them from your possession by giving them to someone who is poor. The recipient may be Muslim or non-Muslim, or even something that relates to general community welfare, like funding a soup kitchen. [Usmani, Fiqh al-Buyu’]
May Allah facilitate this for you and allow us to avoid that which displeases Him.
Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat
Related Answers
One. Can Gambling Winnings Be Used to Repay Gambling Debts? — Mawlana Ilyas Patel: Winnings may not settle gambling debts; return them to their owners or give them to charity.
Two. How Does One Dispose of Haram Wealth? — Shaykh Yusuf Weltch: Give it away to be rid of it, not as charity; mixed wealth is given by amount.
Three. My Brother Gambles to Support Us. What Should We Do? — Ustadh Tabraze Azam: When a family may accept support from a gambler’s income, and urging him toward repentance.
Four. Is Matched Betting Permissible? — Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat: Betting with a paid stake is impermissible, however it is structured.
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.
