Ruling on organising a competition to complete the Qur’an, and awarding prizes from the contestants’ money

There is nothing wrong with
awarding and receiving prizes in competitions for memorising the Holy Qur’an,
whether these prices are awarded by a third party, other than the
contestants, or by one of the contestants or all of them, according to the
more correct view, because that is akin to what the Lawgiver mentioned of it
being permissible to compete for prizes in archery, camel racing and
horseracing, because that comes under the heading of supporting Islam and
making it supreme. Abu Dawood (2574), at-Tirmidhi (1700) and Ibn Maajah
(2878) narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “There should be no
prizes except in archery, camel-racing or horse-racing.”

Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani
in Saheeh Abi Dawood 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have
mercy on him) said: 

Is it permissible to compete for
prizes in memorising Qur’an, hadeeth, fiqh and other beneficial sciences,
and getting questions right? The companions of Maalik, Ahmad and ash-Shaafa‘i
disallowed it, but the companions of Abu Haneefah and our shaykh regarded it
as permissible; Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr also narrated that from ash-Shaafa‘i, and
prizes are more appropriate in wrestling and swimming. If it is regarded as
permissible to compete in these fields for prizes, then it is more
appropriate that it should be permissible to compete in knowledge. This is
similar to the case when (Abu Bakr) as-Siddeeq made a bet with the
disbelievers of Quraysh regarding the truth of what he told them. We have
stated previously that there is no shar‘i evidence to suggest that this has
been abrogated, and Abu Bakr took the wager from them after gambling had
been prohibited. Religion is established by means of proof and jihad; if
betting was permissible with regard to tools of jihad, then it is more
appropriate that it should be permissible with regard to knowledge. This
view is the correct one.

End quote from al-Faroosiyyah
(p. 318) 

See also: question no.
138652 

This has to do with memorising
the Qur’an or memorising the Sunnah, not just reading and completing.
Memorising takes effort, and increasing the numbers of those who have
memorised the Qur’an, and raising high the banner of the Qur’an, is one of
the greatest kinds of beneficial knowledge on which the religion is based. 

With regard to offering prizes
for merely completing a reading of the Qur’an, there may be some
reservations about it. The more correct view is that it is not prescribed,
because it involves making known actions which should be concealed, boasting
about that, and causing the heart to be attached – with regard to an act of
worship – to these prizes for which people are competing, which then leads
to being hasty in reading in order to complete the reading. Holding
competitions for merely completing the Qur’an is something about which there
may be reservations, so how about if prizes are awarded for that, taken from
the contestants’ money? 

Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak
(may Allah preserve him) was asked: 

We are six friends who meet
every fifteen days in the house of one of us for a programme that includes
Qur’an, al-Arb‘een al-Nawawiyyah (an-Nawawi’s Forty Hadeeth),
Minhaaj al-Muslim, an exhortation from the one in whose house we are
meeting, and Rijaal hawla ar-Rasool (Men around the Messenger –
blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). We start with Qur’an and end with
du‘aa’ (supplication). In between our programs, we have a piece of paper
that we fill out every month, that we call a “competition schedule”; this
includes a portion of Qur’an, the five daily prayers in the mosque, fasting
and upholding ties of kinship. When we are consistent in filling it out, the
results are good, but if we do not fill it out, the results are negative,
because of neglecting to recite Qur’an. What is the Islamic ruling on this
schedule? May Allah reward you with good. 

He replied: 

Praise be to Allah. What appears
to me to be the case is that keeping this schedule and competing in filling
it ou is a kind of innovation (bid‘ah), because it involves boasting to one
another and admiring good deeds, as well as making manifest deeds which are
best kept concealed, because concealing good deeds of charity, reciting
Qur’an and dhikr should be furthest removed from showing off. Allah, may He
be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Invoke your Lord with
humility and in secret” [al-A ‘raaf 7:55] and “(This is) a mention of
the mercy of your Lord to His slave Zakariya (Zachariah), When he called out
his Lord (Allah) a call in secret” [Maryam 19:2-3]. And one of the seven
whom Allah will shade with His shade (on the Day of Resurrection) will be “a
man who gives charity and conceals it to such an extent that his left hand
does not know what his right hand is giving.” See al-Bukhaari (660) and
Muslim (1031). So what you should do is encourage one another to do more
naafil (supererogatory) acts of obedience, and to do a great deal of that,
each one doing whatever he is able to and keeping it between him and his
Lord. In this manner you will be able to attain cooperation in righteousness
and piety, whilst being safe from that which may nullify good deeds or
detract from their reward. And Allah is the source of strength and the Guide
to the straight path. And Allah knows best.

End quote from Islam Today
website 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah
have mercy on him) issued a similar fatwa, as seen in Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa
(16/175). 

Based on that, you everyone
should be encouraged to complete the Holy Qur’an in Ramadan, without holding
a contest for that, and without telling others about the number of complete
readings that Allah has enabled each one to do. 

And Allah knows best.