Buying lottery tickets

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy
on him) was asked:  

“Are the lotteries or raffles which some charities
organize to raise funds for their activities in the educational, medical
or social work fields, permissible according to sharee’ah?”

 He answered:

 Lotteries and raffles are other names
for gambling, which is haraam according to the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and
the consensus of the scholars. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“O you who believe!
Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al Ansaab
(stone altars for sacrifices to idols, etc.), and Al Azlaam (arrows
for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaytaan’s (Satan’s)
handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that
you may be successful.

Shaytaan (Satan)
wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants
(alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance
of Allaah and from As Salaah (the prayer). So, will you not then abstain?”
[al-Maa’idah 5:90-91]

 It is not permissible for the Muslims
to engage in any kind of gambling at all, whether the money collected
from gambling is to spent on charitable projects or otherwise, because
it is evil and forbidden, as indicated by the general meaning of the
evidence (daleel), and because the earnings derived from gambling are
among the kinds of earnings which we must avoid and beware of. And Allaah
is the Source of strength.   (Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/442)  

Shaykh Muhammad al-Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen was asked: 

What is the ruling on taking part in lotteries, which
means that a person buys a ticket and if he is lucky he gets a lot of
money, knowing that this person intends to use that money for Islamic
projects and to help the mujaahideen so that they will benefit from
that? 

He answered: 

What the questioner describes, where a person
buys a ticket then if he is lucky – as he says – he gets a lot of money,
comes under the heading of gambling, of which Allaah says (interpretation
of the meaning):

“O you who believe!
Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and Al Ansaab
(stone altars for sacrifices to idols, etc.), and Al Azlaam (arrows
for seeking luck or decision) are an abomination of Shaytaan’s (Satan’s)
handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that
you may be successful.

Shaytaan (Satan)
wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants
(alcoholic drinks) and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance
of Allaah and from As-Salaah (the prayer). So, will you not then
abstain?

And obey Allaah
and the Messenger (Muhammad), and beware (of even coming near to drinking
or gambling or Al Ansaab, or Al Azlaam) and fear Allaah. Then if you
turn away, you should know that it is Our Messenger’s duty to convey
(the Message) in the clearest way” [al-Maa’idah
5:90-91] 

This gambling – which is any transaction
in which a person may win or lose, and he does not know whether he will
be a winner or a loser – is all haraam. Indeed, it is one of the major
sins, and its abhorrent nature is no secret when one realizes that Allaah
mentions it in conjunction with idol-worship, alcohol and azlaam (arrows
for seeking luck or decision). Whatever benefits may be hoped for from
gambling pale into insignificance beside the harm that it causes. Allaah
says (interpretation of the meaning):

“They ask you
(O Muhammad) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: ‘In them
is a great sin, and (some) benefits for men, but the sin of them is
greater than their benefit.’”

[al-Baqarah 2:219]

 Think
about this aayah, where benefits (manaafi’)
are mentioned in the plural, and sin (ithm)
is mentioned in the singular. Allaah did not say, “In it are many sins
and (some) benefits for men”, rather He said (interpretation of the
meaning): “a great sin”.
This is an indication that the benefits, no matter how numerous they
may be, are insignificant when compared with this great sin; the great
sin far outweighs them. So its sin is greater than its benefits, no
matter what they are.  (Fataawa Islamiyyah, 4/441)

 With regard to a person’s saying that
he only gambles occasionally, this is like one who says that he only
commits adultery occasionally, or he only steals occasionally, or he
only lies occasionally. Does the fact that he commits that haraam action
only rarely means that it is not a sin and that he is not exposed to
the wrath of Allaah? How does he know that this rare action will not
develop into something that is done more frequently, until it becomes
a habit? In fact this is what usually happens, especially in the case
of those who are afflicted by gambling. He should fear Allaah and abstain
from that which Allaah has forbidden to him.

 And Allaah knows best.