By Harith A.R.
Edited by Siti Nur Najihah
Gambling also known as ‘maysir’ in Arabic is illegal in Islam as it is regarded as risking wealth or valuables by depending on luck and uncertainties in gaining something. Gambling goes against the Islamic principles that enforce justice, fairness, and responsibility. In Malaysia, most can clearly identify gambling centres such as 4D or Sports Toto so it is very easy to know and avoid them. However, certain things are harder to know especially if they are hidden such as 'gacha', loot boxes, booster packs, and blind boxes.
Gacha or Tikam
I am pretty sure most Malaysians are familiar with the term known as ‘tikam’ or some would be more familiar with the term ‘gacha’ in which we put a specific amount of coins into some sort of a vending machine and get random items based on our luck; these are in fact, gambling which is very well-hidden.
Throughout my life, most religious teachers strictly banned us from playing 'gacha', however, most of us did not care about it and played it anyway. I feel that the underlying cause of the issue is that we do not understand why we cannot play it. The same goes for claw games as we were kids and some of us are ignorant and do not pay attention to what the teachers told us not to. We paid money for it so why can’t we play it then? As I grew up, I started to realise in which part it is considered gambling. The fact that you have to depend on luck alone is considered a form of gambling. To make things worse, there is a new shop opening in a big mall in Putrajaya which focuses solely on the 'gacha' system. I will not tell you the name but you will recognise the store once you see it.
Loot Boxes in Online Gaming
Next, we come to the issue of gambling in online games, mostly related to loot boxes where you buy a specific box that unlocks randomised items where better items are harder to get and the game encourages you to buy more and more until you unlock them. You can find it in most online games, especially mobile games such as PUBG Mobile and Pokemon Masters EX. These gaming companies prey on young children to force their parents to buy them the loot boxes and influence people like adults to continuously purchase these loot boxes until they get specific ultra-rare items that they cannot obtain through normal gameplay or if they are free-to-play players.
Loot boxes from online games
Trading Card (Booster Pack)
Lastly, gambling in trading card games. Most of us collect cards from cartoon series or games we played. They sell these cards everywhere and we call them booster packs, where you buy one pack containing around 8-15 cards that are randomised and the rarity of the card depends on your luck. If you are lucky enough, you can get a rare card in a single purchase that only a few have while others may have to make hundreds of purchases to get that one specific card. This is extremely an act of injustice and it can greatly affect one’s emotions as they cannot get the cards they want. The same goes for toy companies that produce blind boxes in which the consumer cannot tell which characters they will get unless they purchase multiple boxes. It is not only a cruel act but also disgusting as these companies prey on children to waste their money and will influence their behaviour until they grow up.
Booster Packs from the Pokemon Trading Card Game Series
To conclude, these elements of gambling can cause financial strain, and affect their mental health as well as their emotional well-being. So how do we tackle this issue? Certainly through awareness. I am sure that some are still uncertain of what makes these elements illegal in Islamic law. For all of us who are aware, it is our responsibility to inform others and together we can help prevent or reduce this issue by reminding one another:
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