Is Selling Lottery Tickets allowed in Islam?
Your question (“i don’t know if allah is accepting from me and inshallah he is or am i doing something against him?”) reflects your concern to earn your living via lawful means. May Allah Subhanahi wa Ta’ala help you lead a righteous life and support you with abundant halaal provision!
Let me begin by addressing briefly a Muslim’s livelihood (i..e.job/career) then on selling lottery tickets. I I shall then summarise at the end so that you will know what you have to do to seek Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala’s Pleasure.
In earning his living, the Muslim should stick to the rules of Shari`ah and he should exert efforts in searching for the permissable (halaal) and steer clear of all what is forbidden (haraam). Here we understand that all Muslims should earn their livelihood through lawful means as part of their Deen. At the same time, Islam blocks all ways leading to evil. Selling non-halaal things is forbidden in Islam. As long as you are going to work in a shop that serves non-halal food/items such as hot-dogs, alcohol, lottery tickets, you are recommended to seek another alternative. By working in such a shop that serves non-halaal food/items, whether you like it or not, you are also promoting the forbidden. And this is clearly unacceptable in Islam.
You should know that it is not a valid excuse to say that one is not using what is haraam or being directly involved in it. It is a basic principle of Islam that whatever and whoever aids and assists the haraam is itself haraam. For this reason, the Prophet Sall Allahu alayhi wa sallam, cursed the person who writes the document of interest (ribaa) and the person who witnesses it, as well as the person who consumes it. Similarly the person who serves the alcohol or wine is cursed, so too is the one who serves them, and the one who drinks them. So from this we know it is the same for the person who buys a lottery ticket(s), and the one who sells it to the purchaser.
Selling lottery tickets
The lottery is a form of gambling, both of which Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala has forbidden, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“O you who believe! Intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling, and AlAnsaab (stone altars for sacrifices to idols etc), and AlAzlaam (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” (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 realises that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala 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 tremendous harm that it causes. Allah Ta’ala 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)
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid: (reference Islam Q&A question #6476) wrote the following - quote:
"Think about this aayah, where benefits (manaafi’) are mentioned in the plural, and sin (ithm) is mentioned in the singular. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala did not say, “In it are many sins and (some) benefits for men”, rather He Ta’ala says (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. (Source reference: 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 Allah Almighty?
How does he know that this occasional action “to try his luck” will not develop into something that is done more frequently, until it becomes a bad habit? All the evils and harms that are in gambling are present in lottery. Gambling is a kind of addiction like intoxicants. Those who get involved in gambling and lottery waste a lot of their money hoping that they may hit a jackpot. In fact this is what usually happens, especially in the case of those who are afflicted by gambling. They become dependant on chance and luck and do not work hard to earn their money using the proper natural ways of labour and efforts.
An attitude like this when it develops in the Ummah, it takes away from its people the desire to make serious efforts for productivity. It also creates frustrations, hate, anger, depression and animosity among the people. It is for these reasons that Allah forbids gambling and the punter should fear Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and abstain from that which Allah Ta’ala has forbidden to him. - unquote. http://63.175.194.25/index.php?ds=qa&lv=browse&QR=6476&dgn=3&)
It is true that sometimes people use lottery for good and charitable causes but in Islam, Muslims should give their money for good and charitable causes out of the goodness of their hearts, love of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala and love of humanity, not through devious and dubious methods and means.
Therefore, in answer to your question - it is not permissible to sell lottery tickets, because this is a kind of cooperating in sin and transgression which displeases Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala because He Ta’ala wants all of us to “Help you one another in AlBirr and AtTaqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression” (al-Maa’idah 5:2 - … the interpretation of the meaning)
Finally please remember:
“And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).
And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allah will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allah has set a measure for all things” (al-Talaaq 65:2-3)
We ask Allah the Almighty to cure everyone indulging in this evil and help him in giving it up. Allah is the Best Guide to the Right Path.
Source: The Islamic Email Circle ©