Prizes for competitions on innovated occasions

Question

Praise be to Allah.

Firstly:

The Eids and special occasions which are prescribed for the
Muslim ummah are few and well known, as sharee’ah has told us of them and
encourages people to celebrate them. They include special occasions such as
Ramadaan, the Eids, the first ten days of Dhu’l-Hijjah and Muharram, and so
on. But they do not include the Prophet’s Birthday (Mawlid), because there
are no texts that single this day out as a special occasion, or for any
particular act of worship or celebration. Rather the Sahaabah and Taabi’een
and those who came after them did not regard it as a special occasion. Those
who regard it as being prescribed by sharee’ah in any sense have introduced
an innovation into the religion that is not part of it. We have stated
previously on this site that it is an innovation (bid’ah) to celebrate the
Prophet’s Birthday.

Please see the answers to questions no.
5219,
10070,
13810,
20889 and
70317.

Secondly:

Undoubtedly holding competitions on that day is a kind of
celebrating it and making it an Eid, so it is not permissible to take part
in any competition that is held on an innovated occasion, otherwise the one
who is taking part will also be counted as a follower of innovation. We ask
Allaah to keep us safe and sound.

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (3/25):

What do you think – may Allaah preserve you as a help to the
Muslim ummah – about taking days off from school and work, or giving sermons
and lectures etc, as is done in our country in Africa, on the occasion of
the Prophet’s Birthday?

The answer was:

Celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday and taking a day off for
that is an innovation (bid’ah), because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not do that and neither did his
companions (may Allaah be pleased with them). The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever introduces anything into
this matter of ours that is not part of it will have it rejected.” End
quote.

Thirdly:

With regard to Islamically-prescribed occasions, such as the
month of Ramadaan etc, what is prescribed and in fact mustahabb is to remind
the people of it, and to inform them of its virtues and the deeds that are
mustahabb at that time, and the rewards decreed for that; organizing lessons
and seminars is the best way to teach the people how to celebrate the
special occasions that are prescribed in Islam.

Among the ways of celebrating these special occasions is
holding competitions of knowledge and Qur’aan memorization during these
special occasions, when the people turn to Allaah and strive to read
Qur’aan, memorize it and learn the rulings of Islam. So there is nothing
wrong with organizing such competitions or taking part in them, in sha
Allaah.

Fourthly:

We have previously discussed on our site the ruling on
offering prizes in different kinds of competitions. The correct view is that
it is permissible if the competition brings some kind of religious or
worldly benefit. The Hanafis have stated that it is permissible to offer
prizes for competitions in knowledge and mathematics.

It says in al-Fataawa al-Hindiyyah (5/324):

If one of the educated people were to say to one of his
peers: Come, let us compete and if you get it right and I get it wrong I
will give you such and such, and if I get it right and you get it wrong, I
will not take anything from you, it should be permissible. End quote.

See: Radd al-Muhtaar (6/4040.

And Allaah knows best.