Free to play lottery/charity lottery

Everyday Islamic Finance Personal and Family Finance
#1

Salaams

I have come across two types of lottery and would like your views on this, although intuitively they do not seem permissable to me :

  1. There are some lottery websites that are free to enter. The company uses revenue from adverts placed on their website to purchase entries into a number of conventional lotteries. They then share any winnings with the customer.

  2. There a number of charity lotteries that customers pay to enter but some of the ticket price goes towards funding charitable work.

Many thanks

#2

Wasalaam

May Allah bless you.

  1. If you do not pay anything and the entry is offered to you free of charge, then it is permissible to take part. However, many scholars would disagree with me I am sure. So you do not have to follow my opinion.

  2. This is gambling hence not permissible. If you want to donate to charity then you can donate to them without taking part in the actual lottery drawing.

And Allah knows best!