calls for further scrutiny, for it is not a prerequisite that the activity be purged of every resemblance to gambling; rather, it is a form of gambling that the Sacred Law has declared lawful.

6 – Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī, may Allah have mercy on him, also said: “Competitions in regard to taking prize money fall into three categories:

First: Permissible when no prize is involved but impermissible when a prize is staked. This is the basic and most common rule. It includes footraces, boat races, wrestling, and tests of strength in matters that do not entail any serious danger.

Second: Impermissible whether or not a prize is offered, such as chess, backgammon, and every contest that diverts one from an obligation or leads to something forbidden; the reason behind this is plain.

Third: Permissible even with prize money—namely competitions with arrows, camels, and horses—because of the explicit hadith that permits them.”