Is it possible to make a raffle halal?

[ketchupkisses]

I'm organising a raffle for the school. Its occurred to me that this might be problematic for Islamic children and parents who account for a sizeable proportion of the school. I was hoping to send home tickets with each child to sell to family and friends and I don't want to exclude anyone from this. But doing a quick search shows that raffles are seen as gambling and therefore not allowed.

Now I know that there is a similar thing with interest and mortgages but that there is such a thing as an islamic mortgage which is structured so that it is Sharia compliant. Does anyone know if it is possible to restructure a raffle in some way so that it is more acceptable? I have already got prizes donated by local restaurants etc. so I don't want to cancel the raffle entirely, but I'm also keen to be inclusive.

Instead of a reffling the prizes and so pick a winner from the hat etc why can't you auction the prizes. That way you could raise more money that just a pound a ticket. Then they wouldn't be gambling as an auction is based upon skill and judgement and not relying on luck.

I think anything where you can make it a game of skill instead of just chance might be acceptable - things like having to estimate the weight of the cake / the number of jellybeans in the jar etc - you could then allocate the prizes to the closest, second closest etc. That's not gambling, because there is an element of skill involved.

Halal? Halal is food! Look, why don't you just have a raffle with a wide range of prizes and see how many Muslim parents buy tickets. You can even raffle off alcohol as a prize so long as you have a substitute if the winner does not want alcohol - lots of non-muslims do not drink. You are assuming that all Muslims in the school subscribe to the same beliefs etc. e.g. sharia, which is incorrect. Don't bend over backwards to avoid causing offence as you are marking them out as different and that in itself can be offensive. Just relax. You will have a great raffle.

agree with Bigggles - what woudl be the difference if there was only one muslim family? You surely wouldn't cancel the raffle for one family so why do that for many?

Biggles Halal is not just food...

I think the auction suggestion or making it skill based is fine. I wouldn't be offended if my child came with raffle tickets from school. Wouldn't buy them but wouldn't be too bothered about it

WHy not do both, have a raffle and a skill game and that way people can still give money to the school (cos that's what it is, no-one really want a hamper of shit tins) whichever way they prefer.

just wanted to say that its nice of you ketchupkisses trying to include everyone. I don't have any bright ideas sorry.

Personally i wouldn't expect the raffle to change for me. I wouldn't sell the tickets though, would just give a donation to the school instead. I don't think the parents would feel under any pressure to sell them, maybe just send a note saying they don't have to.

nice of you to try to accomodate muslims ketchup, but I'm with biggles here.

You risk making an issue out of nothing. I have yet to meet a muslim who has objected to taking part in school raffles.

I agree with others & IME many non-muslim families don't buy raffles tickets, or sell them on to others anyway, why try & change things just because Muslims feel they can't/shouldn't do this, when there are already plenty who don't want and can't be arsed to for a variety of reasons anyway!

As has already been said, people can always make a donation if they want to support the reasons behind the raffle, but not the raffle itself.

I think a thoughtfully worded supporting letter with the tickets would be a better answer.

Just wanted to point out it's not only Muslims who consider raffles gambling and avoid them. My DM (Christian) would never buy raffle tickets which I found quite mortifying, but she had no objection to other people buying them!