BENEFIT: Ruling on Betting When Only One Party Pays and the Difference Between Conditional Gifts and Betting

Question: If the money comes from only one person? Sheikh Sa'd Ash-Shithri ḥafidhahullāh: The ruling does not differ in this type of case (i.e. Betting) whether the money comes from one person alone or from both parties together; this is a type of gambling. However, if there is an independent gift that is conditional upon a future event, from one person to another — for example, someone says, “If so-and-so comes, then you will have one thousand riyals” — then this is a gift, not something done in exchange, and it does not fall under betting or gambling.