Answer
Wa `alaykum As-Salamu wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
It is not allowed for a Muslim to enter sweepstakes for cash or items as this is a form of gambling which is prohibited in Shariah.
In responding to your question about entering sweeptakes, Dr. Wael Shehab, PhD in Islamic Studies from Al-Azhar University and currently the Imam of the Downtown Toronto Masjid in Canada, states:
A Muslim is not allowed to play games of chance or enter sweepstakes for cash or items. Such games and practices spread enmity, hatred, unemployment, and laziness in the community. Games of chance, moreover, turn people away from the remembrance and worship of Allah.
Almighty Allah says: {O you who believe! Strong drink (including alcohol) and games of chance and idols and divining arrows are only an infamy of Satan’s handiwork. Leave it aside in order that you may succeed. Satan seeks only to cast among you enmity and hatred by means of strong drink and games of chance, and to turn you from remembrance of Allah and from (His) worship. Will you then have done?} (Al-Maidah 5:90-91)
May Allah accept your and our good deeds!
Almighty Allah knows best.
Editor’s note: This fatwa is from Ask the Scholar’s archive and was originally published at an earlier date.