Gambling-free lottery, a new Islamic lending ticket

Purpose - – This paper aims to present a new Islamic product called gambling-free lottery, which is inspired by ideas of Musharakah, Takaful and Al-qard Al-hasan, where the winner of the lottery receives the prize as an interest-free loan, and buyers of tickets get their money back after the winner’s repayment of the loan. Design/methodology/approach - – The paper reports the religious opinions of three Islamic scholars who were interviewed for the purpose of this study. The results of a questionnaire to survey the mood of 430 persons about the new product are also reported. Findings - – The paper concludes that although the proposed product is still at an exploratory stage and not a definitive product acceptable to all Muslim society, it could be a successful Islamic financial product, provided that it was put into practice with some modifications to accommodate all Islamic views. Research limitations/implications - – Main limitations of this study are the number of Islamic scholars interviewed does not reflect all the Islamic views regarding the new product and the lack of more information about the religious side of this type of product. Originality/value - – By introducing such a product, the gambling-free lottery could become not only a means of credit provision but also a new method of playing a “game” while lending money to someone who is more likely to be poor. Converting the poor into the rich could overcome many problems, particularly in poor countries.