Lottery is Not Permissible

Hadrat Munshi Barkat ‘Ali Khan ra, a Companion of the Promised Messiahas, was employed at Simla. Before becoming an Ahmadi, he had bought a lottery ticket which later won him a sum of rupees seven and a half thousand. When he asked Hudur about it Hudur deemed it gambling and said: ‘Do not spend a penny of it on yourself.’ Munshi Sahib gave away all the money to the needy and the disadvantaged. (Summarized from Ashab-e-Ahmad, vol. 3, p. 33, published in 1957)

These days it is customary in Europe and the West to play the lottery. The prize money for those who play and win is certainly not permissible, in fact it is haram in the same sense as the money from gambling is haram. In the first place it should not be played, and if by mistake it is done, then the prize money should never be spent on oneself.

An incident relates to your own country England regarding Bashir Orchard who accepted Ahmadiyyat and brought on many changes in himself and later devoted his life. He accepted Ahmadiyyat in 1944 and took some religious education in Qadian for a while and as I said, devoted his life. After that a most magnificent revolution came in his life. His worship and prayer got extremely fervent. His first visit to Qadian bore the first fruit for him in quitting alcohol. Though he was a heavy drinker, he promptly gave up drinking. He repented from alcohol and from gambling and gave them up forever. (Summarized from Al-Fadl, January 10, 1978, ‘Azim Zindagi, p. 3)