Competitions are a popular activity held by communities to enliven\nIndonesia\u2019s Independence Day celebrations. However, questions have\narisen regarding the Islamic legal ruling on competition prizes if the\nfunds come from community collections or participant registration\nfees.<\/p>\n
The Deputy Secretary of the Fatwa Commission of the Indonesian Ulema\nCouncil (MUI), KH Abdul Muiz Ali, explained that competitions are\nfundamentally permissible in Islam. However, organising committees need\nto pay attention to the source of prize funds to ensure they do not\ncontain elements of gambling or qimar.<\/p>\n
According to the MUI, the issue is not merely the existence of a\ncollection, but rather the mechanism for collecting and using the money.\nThe MUI reminds committees not to use participant registration fees as a\nsource of prizes for winners. This scheme is considered to contain an\nelement of qimar because participants pay money with the possibility of\ngaining a prize or losing the money they have paid.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing that must be avoided is the practice of gambling. This\nmeans the committee is not allowed to use participant registration fees\nas part of the prize costs. That is not correct according to fiqh\nprovisions and is haram,\u201d KH Muiz Ali stated.<\/p>\n
Thus, community collections must be examined first. If funds are\ncollected voluntarily from residents who are not risking their money in\nthe competition, the mechanism differs from participant registration\nfees that are then used as prizes. In Islamic fiqh, there is a\nprohibition against games that place participants in a win-or-lose\nsituation by risking personal funds. In such a scheme, participants pay\na sum of money to enter a competition, and the collected money is then\nused as a prize for the winner. The winning participant receives a\nprize, while the other participants do not get back the money they have\npaid. The MUI considers this mechanism to be a practice of qimar or\ngambling, making it haram.<\/p>\n
The MUI suggests that competition prizes should come from sources\nthat do not require participants to risk their money. Prize funds can\ncome from sponsors, the committee\u2019s treasury, or third-party donations\nthat are not binding on participants. With this mechanism, participants\ntake part in the competition without risking personal money to obtain a\nprize. Furthermore, competitions can also be held without prizes.\nCompetitions without prizes are fundamentally permissible, including\nrunning races and various other agility competitions.<\/p>\n
If residents voluntarily collect money to buy prizes and these funds\ndo not come from participant registration fees, the mechanism differs\nfrom a gambling scheme. For example, residents in a neighbourhood agree\nto donate a sum of money to buy competition prizes. Participants then\njoin the competition without being charged a registration fee that is\nused for prizes. In this situation, the prize money comes from\nresidents\u2019 donations, not from money risked by participants in the\ncompetition. Conversely, if participants are required to pay a certain\nfee and this money is collected to be given to the winner, this\nmechanism is considered to contain an element of qimar and is haram.<\/p>\n
The MUI affirms that competition activities held to celebrate\nindependence are fundamentally permissible. Competitions can also serve\nas a means to train agility, discipline, and strengthen community\ntogetherness. Therefore, what committees need to consider is not only\nthe type of competition, but also the prize funding mechanism.\nCommittees can use sponsors, committee funds, or voluntary donations\nfrom residents that do not originate from participants\u2019 betting\nmoney.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/are-prizes-for-independence-day-competitions-funded-by-community-collections-haram-1786578718", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }