Q. Respected Mufti. There are a few friends of mine that are interested in a competition. This is how it works: Each person contributes R50 towards a soccer shirt by registering his profile on the Fantasy Premier League website. Then each person chooses a virtual soccer player who holds similitude to actual players who participate in the English Barclays Premier league. How the players perform on the actual day of their respective games will determine how many points they receive in the Fantasy Premier League game respectively. The idea is that the person with the most number of points at the end of the Premier league season, will win the shirt of their choice (using the combined funds of all participating friends). Is this permissible?
A. The competition in reference entails a person subscribing to the competition by paying R50 in order to win a soccer shirt or lose R50. This is termed and defined as gambling in Shariah as a person is risking loss or gain. As such, this type of competition constitutes gambling (Qimaar) and is Haraam for one to participate. (Shaami 6/403)
Allah Ta’ala Knows Best
Mufti Ismaeel Bassa