---
title: "What is Maysir? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "Gambling or games of chance, where gain depends on luck rather than productive exchange; prohibited in Islamic finance."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maysir/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Shariah fundamentals](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#fundamentals)

Shariah fundamentals

# Maysir

Gambling or games of chance, where gain depends on luck rather than productive exchange; prohibited in Islamic finance.

Maysir refers to gambling: arrangements in which one party's gain comes from another's loss through chance, without a productive exchange. It is closely linked to qimar, games of chance, and regulatory texts such as Bank Negara Malaysia's list it alongside riba and excessive gharar as a core prohibition. The prohibition is one reason Islamic finance restricts speculative derivatives and conventional insurance structures.

## Sources

- [Bank Negara Malaysia, Shariah Contract Framework discussion paper, 2024: fundamental Shariah principles, gambling (maysir)](https://www.bnm.gov.my/documents/20124/938039/dp-shariah-contract-nov24.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Gharar** Excessive uncertainty in a contract, about the object, price, quantity or delivery, which can make the contract invalid.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/gharar/) [**Riba** An increase over principal that Shariah prohibits: extra stipulated on a loan, or an unequal exchange of certain like-for-like goods.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba/) [**Takaful** Mutual cover: participants contribute to a common fund, as donations, to help one another against specified losses.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/takaful/) [**Tahawwut (hedging)** Hedging; in Islamic finance, risk management transactions built from permissible contracts rather than conventional derivatives.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/tahawwut/)

**Shariah fundamentals**

1. [Riba](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba/)
2. [Gharar](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/gharar/)
3. [Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah/)
4. [Fiqh al-muamalat](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fiqh-al-muamalat/)
5. [Maqasid al-Shariah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/maqasid-al-shariah/)
6. [Riba al-nasiah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-nasiah/)
7. [Riba al-fadl](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/riba-al-fadl/)
8. [Al-ghunm bil-ghurm](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/al-ghunm-bil-ghurm/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)