What is the ruling on competitions that rely on voting via paid mobile messages, where the winner is the one who receives the largest number of votes and gets a cash prize?

Competitions that rely on paying money, such as paying for a message or a subscription, to win a prize are a form of gambling (Qimar), because their aim is to wrongfully take the money of the voters. It is not permissible to participate in them.

It is not permissible to pay a reward except in what has been exceptionally permitted by Islamic law (Shari'a), which is what is mentioned in the Hadith: "There is no prize (sabaq) except in archery, or hoof (horse racing), or paw (camel racing)." The term "sabaq" here refers to the prize designated for the competition.

The Permanent Committee stated that prizes in competitions are not permissible except if they are in archery, horse riding, or camel riding, because these are means of Jihad. Competitions in legitimate scholarly matters are assimilated to these, provided that the prize is from permissible sources.