Abstract
Gambling and speculation which leads to zero-sum outcomes are prohibited in Islamic finance and condemned in conventional finance. This article explores the reasons for the similarity of objections towards gambling and speculation. Three probable reasons are explored namely the concept of stewardship in conventional thought and the concept of khalifa in Islam, Christianity and morality’s influence on conventional law and finance and the concept of ethics of sacrifice and ethics of tolerance.
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Notes
‘…a classic rabbinical midrash on this passage suggests a more nuanced interpretation: “When God created Adam he led him past all the trees in the Garden of Eden and told him, ‘See how beautiful and excellent are all My works. Beware lest you spoil and ruin My world. For if you spoil it there is nobody to repair it for you.’ Moreover, it is followed in verse 30 by a clear restriction on man’s domination of nature: people are permitted to eat only plants. And in the second creation story in Genesis 2:15, God places man in the Garden of Eden and instructs him “to works it and watch it”––which explicitly invokes the principle of stewardship.’ (Vogel 2001, p. 353).
Translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Ibid.
The scholar Jaafar Sheikh Idris in his article (1990) explored the meaning o f‘Khalifa’ and after quoting early commentators’ views such as Al-Tabari, Al-Zamakhshari, Al-Razi, Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir, the author comes to the conclusion that ‘khalifa’ as mentioned in the Qur’an does not mean the popular interpretation that man is a vicegerent of God. Rather the author gives the following summary of what ‘Khalifa’ means based on the Qur’an, sunah and early commenter’s’ views of what Khalifa means
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(i)
‘The general meaning of khalifa is ‘one who succeeds another’
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More particularly it means one who succeeds another as a ruler, a head of state
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(iii)
If the verse is interpreted according to the first general meaning, the khalifa would be Adam in particular but also all generations of mankind.
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(iv)
And they would be Khulafa either in the sense of being successors of earlier inhabitants of the earth, or in the sense that each generation of them follows the other in inhabiting the earth.
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(v)
But if it is interpreted according the second meaning, the khalifa must be Adam in particular, but that can include all generations of rulers after him who assume his responsibility in implementing the Divine laws.
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Adam and those rulers would be khulafa either in the general sense of succeeding others in assuming responsibility and having authority, or in particular sense of being the khulafa of God.’ (Idris 1990, p.102).
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(i)
Research was also conducted on the possibility of Judaism’s influence on Common law and the possible prohibition of gambling within Judaism. Judaism’s link to Common law was difficult to find. The only link is Judaism’s influence through Christianity. This influence is based on the fact that the old Testament in Christianity is also known as the Torah in Judaism. As for the prohibition to gambling there is no clear prohibition found in the holy books of Judaism as to the prohibition of gambling. According to Schechter and Greenstone (2002) among the ancient Israelites no mention is made of games of chance, and no provision was made against them. This was until the period of the Mishnah. Schechter and Greenstone (2002) explain the status of gambling during this period — With the introduction of foreign customs and amusements in the latter period of the Second Temple, playing with dice, was adopted by the Jews. The Rabbis were bitterly opposed to these imported fashions, and looked upon them with intense aversion (see Midr. Teh. to Ps. xxvi. 10, which speaks of “those that play at dice, who calculate with their left hand, and press with their right, and rob and wrong one another”). Mishnah means the beginning of the third century of the common era. The reason for the strong dislike of gamblers was because they were thought to be guilty of robbery. Gamblers were considered to be wasting their time in idleness as they were not interested in the welfare of humanity. While the general tendency of the Rabbis was to forbid all manner of gambling games, they distinguished between those who played for pastime and those who made gambling their profession. Games for pastime were allowed, especially for women and children, even on Sabbath (Schechter and Greenstone 2002).
For example from the Holy Quran—6:85; 3:45–47; 3:49–51; 3:52–53; 5:111–115, 3:55–58.
For example Ibid––3:35–37; 3:42–51; 4:156; 19:16–21; 19:23–26; 19:27–33.
See Sect. Christianity and Morality above.
Examples from the Bible are—1 Timothy 5:18—The labourer is worthy of his wages. [Luke 10:7].
Ephesians 4:28––Do not steal but labour at good (beneficial) work.
1 Thessalonians 4:11, 12––To meet our needs, we should do our own business and work for an income (not take what other people earned). [Matt. 20:1–15; James 5:4].
2 Thessalonians 3:10–12––Like Paul, people should work so they can eat their own bread (not other people’s bread). If they will not work, they should not eat.
We must not try to live off the labours of others. We can expect goods or services from others only as compensation for work we do that produces something of benefit (that which is good––Eph. 4:28)––(Pratte 1985).
Bible examples are: Genesis 23:1–18––Abraham bought a field and a cave for money.
Matthew 13:45, 46––A merchant sold possessions to buy a pearl.
John 4:8––Disciples bought food (Pratte 1985).
Bible examples are: Ephesians 4:28––One who has earned goods by his own labour may choose to give to others in need. 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7––We should give willingly and cheerfully, not grudgingly. Note: If gambling fits this, then we should all gamble bountifully!
Acts 20:35––It is more blessed to give than to receive. Do gamblers consider giving to be more blessed than receiving?
1 John 3:17, 18; 1 Corinthians 13:3––Giving must be motivated by love, compassion, and desire to help others. Is this what motivates gamblers? No, they agree to give (if they lose) only because they want to win what others possess! (Pratte 1985)
For example Ephesians 5:5–7; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11—Those who covet will not receive the kingdom of God, but God's wrath abides on them.
Romans 1:29–32––They are worthy of death, and so are those who approve or encourage their conduct.
1 Corinthians 5:11––Church members who practice it should be disciplined (Pratte 1985).
For example: 1 Peter 4:10, 11—We are stewards of God's manifold blessings and should use these blessings to glorify God "in all things." A steward is a servant who has been entrusted to use his master's property to achieve the master's purposes. The master will judge the steward for how well he used the property [Luke 12:42–46; 2 Chron. 28:1; 1 Cor. 4:1,2].
Psalm 24:1, 2; 50:10–12––Material property is part of our stewardship in that God ultimately owns all physical things but has entrusted them to us.
1 Timothy 6:9, 10, 17–19––Instead of being greedy and loving physical things, we should use them to accomplish God’s purposes. This includes providing for the needs of ourselves and our families, giving to the church, preaching the gospel, and helping the needy. Our material possessions are not ours to use as we please. We must use them to do God’s will and then give account to Him for our use of them. (Pratte 1985)
For example: Matthew 22:39—The second greatest command is "love your neighbour as yourself." Does the gambler love his neighbour as he loves himself?
Luke 6:27; 1 John 3:16–18––Love leads us to do good, not harm, even to our enemies. Note that coveting violates the law of love because it does harm our neighbour (Romans 13:8–10). Love does not seek to profit by taking what belongs to others against their will and without compensation. But the very essence of gambling is hoping other people will lose, so you can profit at their loss.
Matthew 7:12––Do to others as you want them to do to you. Does the gambler want the other players to take his possessions? No! Then he must not try to take theirs! By definition, gambling violates the law of love because a gambler tries to do to others what he does not want them to do to him.
1 Corinthians 13:5––Love seeketh not its own.
Philippians 2:4––We should seek, not just our own interests, but the interests of others. Gambling, by its nature, is selfish and self-seeking. The gambler seeks personal gain and profit by taking other people’s possessions without requiting them. Such is completely contrary to love. (Pratte 1985)
Examples from the Bible—1 Timothy 6:9, 10—Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Greed leads to many foolish and hurtful lusts, many sorrows, etc. If gambling is greed, as we have claimed, then we should expect to find it associated with all kinds of sin and immorality.
Matthew 7:16–19—A tree is known by its fruits. A corrupt tree will surely produce corrupt fruits. If so, it should be destroyed (v19). Hence, if gambling produces many forms of evil, this will confirm our conclusion that gambling is evil of itself. (Pratte 1985)
Examples in the Bible—1 Timothy 6:9—Those who love money (v10) and are minded to be rich fall into temptation, a snare, and many foolish and hurtful lusts. Surely no one can deny that temptation is associated with gambling.
Matthew 6:13; 26:41––We should pray to avoid evil and temptation. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Is it right to pray to avoid temptation and then deliberately subject ourselves to it, simply for the sake of passing pleasure? Note James 4:3; Matthew 18:6–9.
1 Corinthians 15:33––Evil companions corrupt good morals. Yet all gambling puts us in the company of evil men and tempts us to participate in other sins.
Proverbs 13:20––Keeping company with wise men will make us wise, but associating with morally and spiritually foolish people will cause us to suffer [24:1, 2] (Pratte 1985).
For example—1 Timothy 4:12—Set a good example in word, manner of life, love, faith, and purity. Does the gambler set this kind of example?
Matthew 5:13–16––Our lives should be like a light so others may see our good works and glorify God. Who will glorify God from seeing you gamble?
Matthew 18:6, 7––Woe to one who tempts others to sin. It is better to be drowned than to be guilty of this (Pratte 1985).
The Protestant Reformation and Work Ethics came from the combined theological teachings of Luther and Calvin. It encouraged work in a chosen occupation with an attitude of service to God (Hill 1996).
‘The question of gambling arose again in Eastern European Jewish society in connection with the government-sponsored lotteries that came into vogue in twentieth-century pre-World War II times. Jews participated very heavily, as the poor always do, (after all, it is the only way that they feel that they can instantaneously become rich) in purchasing tickets and chances in these lotteries. The question basically arose as to what was considered gambling in Talmudic and/or rabbinic terms. Here again, the people ran ahead of the rabbinic devisors, and purchasing a lottery ticket soon became unquestioned legitimate behaviour in the Jewish world. The reasoning justifying this type of gambling as opposed to other forms of gambling—such as Las Vegas for instance—was pretty tortured but eventually it was seen as a voluntary tax paid by the lottery ticket buyers to the government. This mitigated the issue of gambling and allowed the poor Jews to lose their money happily at million to one odds in state-run lotteries. The Mifal haPayis—the state-run lottery here in Israel—has hundreds of thousands of religious Jewish buyers every week without a pang of conscience or a rabbinic objection. Further issues regarding gambling began to complicate the Jewish world especially in North America later in the twentieth century. There the Catholic Church for decades on end sponsored “Bingo”––a mild but fairly addictive form of gambling––as a means of raising funds for its institutions. Jewish synagogues and schools soon initiated their own “Bingo” games to raise funds for their needs. Many rabbis opposed this type of fundraising activity, saying that holiness should not seek to find its support in basically unholy projects. However, the practicalities of the expenses of operating synagogues and especially schools soon overwhelmed any moral objections and Jewish sponsored “Bingo,” raffles, and even Las Vegas nights became accepted practices in Jewish institutions in the United States and Canada. The objections raised to this type of fundraising have never disappeared. They have merely been ignored.’(Wein, n.d.)
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In this research conventional finance means finance as it is practiced today around the world in business that does not include Islamic finance.
Islamic finance is the conduct of banking and finance in accordance with the principles of Shariah. Shariah is Islamic law and the basic requirements of Shariah are that banking and finance must not contain the elements of, inter alia, riba (interest), gharar (excessive uncertainty), maisir (something attained through no effort), qimar (gambling) and jahala (ignorance).
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Kunhibava, S. Reasons on the Similarity of Objections with Regards to Gambling and Speculation in Islamic Finance and Conventional Finance. J Gambl Stud 27, 1–13 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-010-9201-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-010-9201-5