Many of us believe that winning lotteries can solve all our problems. This is really a fallacy. Individuals have actually gone bankrupt after winning as demonstrated by the following article that appeared in Today’s Calgary Herald.
From rags to riches -- and back again
Lottery winner blows $3M on friends, gambling and stock market
Friday, December 17, 2004
Lottery winner Jeff Clark was enjoying his newfound wealth, cruising the streets of Moose Jaw in his $105,000 black Dodge Viper.
But one car wasn't enough.
The former mine worker soon bought two more Vipers -- one silver and one red. His fleet of luxury vehicles expanded to six, including a $90,000 Plymouth Prowler, a $70,000 Cadillac Eldorado and a $50,000 Buick Riviera.
Today, his only transportation is a rickety mountain bike.
Nine years of extravagance, fair-weather friends, the stock market crash, a paternity suit and a devastating gambling addiction have left the 38-year-old man nearly penniless.
"Look at me -- I'm rolling my own cigarettes. I'm flat broke, man," Clark said in a recent interview.
"I'm reeling. I constantly wonder, 'How the hell did this happen to me?' "
Clark might still be rich, if he simply learned to say "no" to impulse buying, to the lure of lottery kiosks and video lottery terminals, and to moochers expecting everything from free drinks to large loans.
"I'm mad at a lot of people, mad at the government about those VLTs, but mostly mad at myself," he said.
Clark dreamed of getting rich playing professional baseball, but that faded.
He put his hopes in the lottery, spending almost all of his disposable income -- at least $40 a week -- on Lotto 6/49 tickets and Sports Select betting.
"I lived and breathed the lottery. I made up my mind I was gonna win. Winning the lottery was my way out."
Playing the same set of numbers religiously for more than 10 years, he hit the jackpot in January 1996, winning $2.5 million.
He quit his job at a potash mine.
His mother and relatives got new vehicles and other large gifts. He gave his friends money.
He bought the first Viper "then I partied my face off" six nights a week for several months.
Less than two years after that first win, Clark's numbers unbelievably came up again and he won nearly $500,000 on the 6/49.
That second win convinced him his "system" worked.
Clark started to lay down at least $2,200 per week on lottery tickets, and continued to bet big on Sports Select.
He bought a 3,300-square-foot house. By now, he had too many vehicles for his three-car garage, and also had three snowmobiles and a personal watercraft.
He smiles as he recalls how difficult it was to park them all on the block.
He took his friends to concerts, partied with the Toronto Maple Leafs after watching a game in Edmonton, and bought round after round of drinks following softball games and other events.
During the day, Clark would drive one of his cars around the countryside or play golf. He got bored with that and began to look for something to do while his friends were at work.
"I just wanted to gamble and ski and be with my buddies."
Clark was soon spending every day in the bars playing VLTs.
After playing one machine for several days, he couldn't believe it hadn't paid the $1,000 jackpot.
Clark eventually gave up on the machine, but not before feeding it $30,000 in less than a month.
He figures his four-year addiction to VLTs cost him around $1 million.
Then in 2001, the stock markets crashed.
True to form, Clark had earlier instructed a broker to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into the riskiest ventures possible. In addition to his $1,200 monthly brokerage fee, he lost most of this money.
Clark's bankroll was dwindling fast. He also had high legal bills and costs from a paternity suit filed by a woman in Alberta who had his child several years earlier.
His longtime girlfriend, who also has a child with Clark, left him, moved to Regina, and received the Plymouth Prowler as part of the settlement.
He continued to play the lottery and wager on sports, but rarely left home. He was tired of everyone asking him for money.
None of his friends urged him to stop gambling, afraid he'd get angry and cut them off.
"Everyone was on eggshells around me."
They argued among themselves about how much they got from him. That jealousy ruined many of those relationships.
"You want to help people. You really want to help, but it's never enough."
He began selling his cars, often recouping only a fraction of the purchase price.
He sold the house.
Eventually he was down to his last vehicle -- a rusted 1980 van he had before winning.
For three months, he slept in the van with his three dogs.
He still had one asset -- the Burger Flame restaurant he had purchased near downtown Moose Jaw. The business closed after Clark was unable to pay the bills.
Clark slept for several months inside the boarded-up building with no power or heat, including some of the coldest days of winter.
He eventually sold it, but got nothing close to the purchase price.
Clark now lives in a 500-square-foot house in a lower income area of town and has had to give away his other two dogs.
With just a Grade 8 education, finding a job has proven difficult.
The lottery isn't as tough to win as everyone thinks, he says.
Clark is sure his numbers will come up again soon.
"I'm going to win the lottery again. I'll spend whatever I can get on playing.
"I am relentless."
Lotteries
Lottery Woes
More on the troubles of lottery winners...
Lotto winner's relative dead
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
The 17-year-old granddaughter of Jack Whittaker, winner of the nation's biggest undivided lottery jackpot, was found dead Monday along a country road near Scott Depot, W. Va., more than two weeks after she disappeared.
The cause of death was under investigation. Authorities said there were no obvious signs of violence. An autopsy was planned.
Brandi Bragg's body was identified by tattoos on her neck, said State Police Sgt. Jay Powers. "The troopers had talked to her in the past and knew her," Powers said.
The body was found in a grassy area about 15 metres off a road near Scott Depot. Bragg, who lived in the nearby town of Hurricane, W.Va., was last seen alive on Dec. 4 at the home of a friend on that same road.
Whittaker, a contractor who on Christmas Eve 2002 won a $314.9 million jackpot, reported her missing five days later.
© The Calgary Herald 2004
Lotto winner's relative dead
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
The 17-year-old granddaughter of Jack Whittaker, winner of the nation's biggest undivided lottery jackpot, was found dead Monday along a country road near Scott Depot, W. Va., more than two weeks after she disappeared.
The cause of death was under investigation. Authorities said there were no obvious signs of violence. An autopsy was planned.
Brandi Bragg's body was identified by tattoos on her neck, said State Police Sgt. Jay Powers. "The troopers had talked to her in the past and knew her," Powers said.
The body was found in a grassy area about 15 metres off a road near Scott Depot. Bragg, who lived in the nearby town of Hurricane, W.Va., was last seen alive on Dec. 4 at the home of a friend on that same road.
Whittaker, a contractor who on Christmas Eve 2002 won a $314.9 million jackpot, reported her missing five days later.
© The Calgary Herald 2004
Pir Subzali Incidence on Betting.
I posted this anecdote in another forum but I feel it is more relevant here. In this situation Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah intervened physically to prevent an individual becoming a sure millionaire through betting upon a horse – a form of lottery.
At one time Pir Subzali used to work as a clerk for Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah. Once he overheard the Imam giving a tip about a horse to a parsee. Pir Subzali immediately rushed home and told his wife about the tip and asked her to gather whatever cash that was available. They were able to come up with 2000 rupees and stood to make a big fortune as the horse was an outsider.
As he was going to bet, he encountered a pundit who told him "How can this horse ever win? I am an expert and I know all about horses." In this manner he was able to change his mind and put his money on another horse who was the favorite. Off course the horse that MSMS predicted won. Fortunately Pir Subzali was able to recover his original outlay because the horse that he put his money on came third.
Pir Subzali related this incident to the Imam who cautioned him against being angry upon the pundit. He told him, "Subzali, I came to you in the form a pundit to prevent you from becoming a millionaire. If I wanted you to become one, I could have made it possible in many ways, but that would prevent you from attaining the station that I desire for you."
Subzali off course went on to become a Pir posthumously, i.e. after his death.
At one time Pir Subzali used to work as a clerk for Mowlana Sultan Muhammad Shah. Once he overheard the Imam giving a tip about a horse to a parsee. Pir Subzali immediately rushed home and told his wife about the tip and asked her to gather whatever cash that was available. They were able to come up with 2000 rupees and stood to make a big fortune as the horse was an outsider.
As he was going to bet, he encountered a pundit who told him "How can this horse ever win? I am an expert and I know all about horses." In this manner he was able to change his mind and put his money on another horse who was the favorite. Off course the horse that MSMS predicted won. Fortunately Pir Subzali was able to recover his original outlay because the horse that he put his money on came third.
Pir Subzali related this incident to the Imam who cautioned him against being angry upon the pundit. He told him, "Subzali, I came to you in the form a pundit to prevent you from becoming a millionaire. If I wanted you to become one, I could have made it possible in many ways, but that would prevent you from attaining the station that I desire for you."
Subzali off course went on to become a Pir posthumously, i.e. after his death.
Church leaders confront gambling morality debate
Catholic bishop's casino crusade stirs faith groups
Graeme Morton, Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, July 30, 2006
Roll the dice.
Beat the dealer.
Win the jackpot.
Lose your soul?
With gambling in all its forms seemingly weaving its way into every fibre of Canadian society, the morality debate over using dollars from casinos, scratch-and-win tickets and bingos to do good works has never been hotter.
Do the productive "ends" of building a new playground for children or upgrading technology in schools justify the "means" of potentially taking next month's rent from the pockets of a VLT addict?
"The central issue in both a secular morality and a faith-centred morality is the notion of virtue," says Ernie McCullough, a philosophy professor at St. Mary's University College in Calgary.
"From a faith perspective, you can see the benefits society may receive from gambling revenues, but it's at the cost of exploiting those people struggling at the lower end of society," he adds.
The gambling morality debate became front-page news in Calgary this spring with the open rift between Catholic Bishop Fred Henry and the city's Catholic school board.
Last December, Henry told trustees to stop Catholic school councils from fundraising through casinos or bingos "sooner rather than later," calling such practices "morally problematic."
After consulting with parent representatives, trustees voted May 31 to continue to allow individual school councils to set their own fundraising policies, leaving the door open for casino participation.
Almost 50 per cent, nearly $2 million, of fundraising for Catholic schools in 2004-05 came from gambling sources. Parents say that money helped send children on valuable field trips, supported fine arts and athletics, and subsidized fees for low-income families.
Henry fired back in a June 20 pastoral letter, accusing trustees of failing to provide Catholic leadership. The bishop vows he won't attend the opening mass for the new school year in September and warns any schools which continue to fundraise through gambling may be blacklisted and lose the services of their parish priests.
Henry notes Catholic catechism states games of chance or wagers "are not in themselves contrary to justice."
But the bishop says the friendly church-hall bingo game of a generation ago has been swallowed up by a massive industry that has spawned a culture of gambling under the guise of harmless entertainment.
"The whole industry is based on greed, and leaves a whole host of people, not only gambling addicts, damaged in its wake," Henry says.
"For a Catholic, people are not just regrettable statistical casualties," he adds.
Catholic school board chairwoman Cathie Williams says trustees want to find common ground with Henry in the weeks ahead to avoid further escalation in what she calls "this bump in the road.
"We agree with the bishop the fundraising issue must be addressed, and that we need alternative revenue sources, but we couldn't produce a 'drop-dead' date for schools to stop using casino revenues," says Williams.
Williams says she's had calls from grandparents wondering aloud why school fundraising through bingos seemed acceptable 20 years ago, but not today.
"We knew our position as a board was going to create controversy, but I think parents shouldn't be faulted," says Williams.
"They are not promoting gambling. They are doing what they feel is a charitable act for their kids and they're being chastised for it."
Henry says the government's own numbers show Alberta households are spending more annually on gambling ($1,080) than on education ($1,007) or personal care ($834).
"It is morally wrong for a Catholic institution, such as a school, club, society or parish, to formally co-operate in an industry that exploits the weak and vulnerable," Henry says.
Rabbi Moshe Saks of Calgary's Beth Tzedec Synagogue applauds Henry's stance.
"It's an issue Jewish congregations are really just at a starting point with. A lot of our institutions are supported by gambling and it's a difficult situation to begin wrestling with," said Saks.
Saks says the challenge he and other rabbis face is how hard to push as they attempt to wean their Jewish communities off relying on revenues from gambling to support worthwhile programs.
"We're not talking about a casual game of cards between friends," Saks says.
"But our religious codes prohibit gambling and we don't want to be part of a scenario or industry where there are destructive addictions," he adds.
Imam Alaa Elsayed of the Muslim Council of Calgary says there's no grey area in Islam when it comes to the morality of gambling.
"The Qur'an basically states gambling is an abomination of Satan, so avoid it so you may prosper," says Elsayed.
He adds even seemingly innocent social or "fun" gambling activities such as raffles are viewed as the thin edge of a dangerous wedge.
"Then you can be pulled toward the 'true' gambling, which is the cause of a lot of social ills like broken marriages, drinking and stealing," says Elsayed.
Fundraising through gambling for Islamic schools would also be an non-starter, he adds.
"Prevention is better than a cure. Lotteries, raffles -- they're all forms of gambling because they are habitual. You start thinking 'maybe next time, maybe next time . . .' and it becomes a disease you can't escape," Elsayed says.
McCullough thinks the soul-searching underway among local Catholic parents mirrors a debate our larger society needs to have about gambling's morality.
"In a purely secular world, you can say, 'Gambling is going to take place anyway, so why not take advantage of it?' " says McCullough.
"But in a faith-based community, if you have a sense of justice, it's hard to see how you could be directly involved."
Our culture of gambling has become so endemic, says McCullough, that even those who don't haunt casinos are part of the bigger game.
"The stock market, even the housing market . . . we're all gamblers in one way or another today. It's marginalizing some segments of society and that's sad," says McCullough.
"We need to develop a collective social conscience. Bill Gates is trying to do something positive with his billions. Maybe we need to take a lesson from him."
[email protected]
© The Calgary Herald 2006
Catholic bishop's casino crusade stirs faith groups
Graeme Morton, Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, July 30, 2006
Roll the dice.
Beat the dealer.
Win the jackpot.
Lose your soul?
With gambling in all its forms seemingly weaving its way into every fibre of Canadian society, the morality debate over using dollars from casinos, scratch-and-win tickets and bingos to do good works has never been hotter.
Do the productive "ends" of building a new playground for children or upgrading technology in schools justify the "means" of potentially taking next month's rent from the pockets of a VLT addict?
"The central issue in both a secular morality and a faith-centred morality is the notion of virtue," says Ernie McCullough, a philosophy professor at St. Mary's University College in Calgary.
"From a faith perspective, you can see the benefits society may receive from gambling revenues, but it's at the cost of exploiting those people struggling at the lower end of society," he adds.
The gambling morality debate became front-page news in Calgary this spring with the open rift between Catholic Bishop Fred Henry and the city's Catholic school board.
Last December, Henry told trustees to stop Catholic school councils from fundraising through casinos or bingos "sooner rather than later," calling such practices "morally problematic."
After consulting with parent representatives, trustees voted May 31 to continue to allow individual school councils to set their own fundraising policies, leaving the door open for casino participation.
Almost 50 per cent, nearly $2 million, of fundraising for Catholic schools in 2004-05 came from gambling sources. Parents say that money helped send children on valuable field trips, supported fine arts and athletics, and subsidized fees for low-income families.
Henry fired back in a June 20 pastoral letter, accusing trustees of failing to provide Catholic leadership. The bishop vows he won't attend the opening mass for the new school year in September and warns any schools which continue to fundraise through gambling may be blacklisted and lose the services of their parish priests.
Henry notes Catholic catechism states games of chance or wagers "are not in themselves contrary to justice."
But the bishop says the friendly church-hall bingo game of a generation ago has been swallowed up by a massive industry that has spawned a culture of gambling under the guise of harmless entertainment.
"The whole industry is based on greed, and leaves a whole host of people, not only gambling addicts, damaged in its wake," Henry says.
"For a Catholic, people are not just regrettable statistical casualties," he adds.
Catholic school board chairwoman Cathie Williams says trustees want to find common ground with Henry in the weeks ahead to avoid further escalation in what she calls "this bump in the road.
"We agree with the bishop the fundraising issue must be addressed, and that we need alternative revenue sources, but we couldn't produce a 'drop-dead' date for schools to stop using casino revenues," says Williams.
Williams says she's had calls from grandparents wondering aloud why school fundraising through bingos seemed acceptable 20 years ago, but not today.
"We knew our position as a board was going to create controversy, but I think parents shouldn't be faulted," says Williams.
"They are not promoting gambling. They are doing what they feel is a charitable act for their kids and they're being chastised for it."
Henry says the government's own numbers show Alberta households are spending more annually on gambling ($1,080) than on education ($1,007) or personal care ($834).
"It is morally wrong for a Catholic institution, such as a school, club, society or parish, to formally co-operate in an industry that exploits the weak and vulnerable," Henry says.
Rabbi Moshe Saks of Calgary's Beth Tzedec Synagogue applauds Henry's stance.
"It's an issue Jewish congregations are really just at a starting point with. A lot of our institutions are supported by gambling and it's a difficult situation to begin wrestling with," said Saks.
Saks says the challenge he and other rabbis face is how hard to push as they attempt to wean their Jewish communities off relying on revenues from gambling to support worthwhile programs.
"We're not talking about a casual game of cards between friends," Saks says.
"But our religious codes prohibit gambling and we don't want to be part of a scenario or industry where there are destructive addictions," he adds.
Imam Alaa Elsayed of the Muslim Council of Calgary says there's no grey area in Islam when it comes to the morality of gambling.
"The Qur'an basically states gambling is an abomination of Satan, so avoid it so you may prosper," says Elsayed.
He adds even seemingly innocent social or "fun" gambling activities such as raffles are viewed as the thin edge of a dangerous wedge.
"Then you can be pulled toward the 'true' gambling, which is the cause of a lot of social ills like broken marriages, drinking and stealing," says Elsayed.
Fundraising through gambling for Islamic schools would also be an non-starter, he adds.
"Prevention is better than a cure. Lotteries, raffles -- they're all forms of gambling because they are habitual. You start thinking 'maybe next time, maybe next time . . .' and it becomes a disease you can't escape," Elsayed says.
McCullough thinks the soul-searching underway among local Catholic parents mirrors a debate our larger society needs to have about gambling's morality.
"In a purely secular world, you can say, 'Gambling is going to take place anyway, so why not take advantage of it?' " says McCullough.
"But in a faith-based community, if you have a sense of justice, it's hard to see how you could be directly involved."
Our culture of gambling has become so endemic, says McCullough, that even those who don't haunt casinos are part of the bigger game.
"The stock market, even the housing market . . . we're all gamblers in one way or another today. It's marginalizing some segments of society and that's sad," says McCullough.
"We need to develop a collective social conscience. Bill Gates is trying to do something positive with his billions. Maybe we need to take a lesson from him."
[email protected]
© The Calgary Herald 2006
$315M US lottery winner claims he's cleaned out
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 13, 2007
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A man beset by problems since winning a record lottery jackpot says he can't pay a settlement to a casino worker because thieves cleaned out his bank accounts.
Powerball winner Jack Whittaker gave that explanation in a note last fall to a lawyer for Kitti French, who accused him of assaulting her at the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center, a slots-only casino near Charleston, according to a motion French's lawyer filed this week demanding payment of the confidential settlement.
Whittaker won nearly $315 million US on Christmas 2002, then the largest undivided lottery prize in U.S. history. He took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes.
Since then, he has faced his granddaughter's death by drug overdose, been sued for bouncing cheques at Atlantic City, N.J., casinos and ordered to undergo rehab after being arrested on drunken driving charges.
His vehicles and business have also been burglarized and he has been sued by the father of an 18-year-old boy, a friend of the granddaughter who was found dead in Whittaker's house.
In the latest lawsuit, Whittaker told French's lawyer, John Barrett, that "a team of crooks" cashed cheques in September at 12 City National Bank branches and "got all my money," according to the motion Barrett filed in state court. "I intend to pay but can't without any money," Whittaker wrote.
An official with City National Bank said Friday the bank is investigating "small discrepancies" in Whittaker's accounts.
© The Calgary Herald 2007
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 13, 2007
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A man beset by problems since winning a record lottery jackpot says he can't pay a settlement to a casino worker because thieves cleaned out his bank accounts.
Powerball winner Jack Whittaker gave that explanation in a note last fall to a lawyer for Kitti French, who accused him of assaulting her at the Tri-State Racetrack and Gaming Center, a slots-only casino near Charleston, according to a motion French's lawyer filed this week demanding payment of the confidential settlement.
Whittaker won nearly $315 million US on Christmas 2002, then the largest undivided lottery prize in U.S. history. He took his winnings in a lump sum of $113 million after taxes.
Since then, he has faced his granddaughter's death by drug overdose, been sued for bouncing cheques at Atlantic City, N.J., casinos and ordered to undergo rehab after being arrested on drunken driving charges.
His vehicles and business have also been burglarized and he has been sued by the father of an 18-year-old boy, a friend of the granddaughter who was found dead in Whittaker's house.
In the latest lawsuit, Whittaker told French's lawyer, John Barrett, that "a team of crooks" cashed cheques in September at 12 City National Bank branches and "got all my money," according to the motion Barrett filed in state court. "I intend to pay but can't without any money," Whittaker wrote.
An official with City National Bank said Friday the bank is investigating "small discrepancies" in Whittaker's accounts.
© The Calgary Herald 2007
Everything posted so far sounds like sour grapes!
Here is a real question related to lottery (please note that I am not a lottery winner or anything like that, so please don’t ask for $$$s):
Let’s say one does win a lotto how can that person fulfill his/her obligatory Dasond? Since in The States one must report any transaction over $9,999 and (I have asked the Muki and that’s how I know) you can not write check for the dasond. I have gotten an “unofficial” answer, “…check to AKF?”
Please don’t post any other answer unless the answers that you know for sure otherwise just wait for someone to post the answer.
THANKS.
Here is a real question related to lottery (please note that I am not a lottery winner or anything like that, so please don’t ask for $$$s):
Let’s say one does win a lotto how can that person fulfill his/her obligatory Dasond? Since in The States one must report any transaction over $9,999 and (I have asked the Muki and that’s how I know) you can not write check for the dasond. I have gotten an “unofficial” answer, “…check to AKF?”
Please don’t post any other answer unless the answers that you know for sure otherwise just wait for someone to post the answer.
THANKS.
I would suggest writing directly to Mowlana Hazar Imam and asking him how he'd like the dasondh, and he will direct you.unnalhaq wrote:Everything posted so far sounds like sour grapes!
Here is a real question related to lottery (please note that I am not a lottery winner or anything like that, so please don’t ask for $$$s):
Let’s say one does win a lotto how can that person fulfill his/her obligatory Dasond? Since in The States one must report any transaction over $9,999 and (I have asked the Muki and that’s how I know) you can not write check for the dasond. I have gotten an “unofficial” answer, “…check to AKF?”
Please don’t post any other answer unless the answers that you know for sure otherwise just wait for someone to post the answer.
THANKS.
and for the 9,999.00 reporting question..there are ways one can get around that - where there is a will there is a way.
Ya Ali Madad.
Shams
Nice answer!ShamsB wrote: I would suggest writing directly to Mowlana Hazar Imam and asking him how he'd like the dasondh, and he will direct you.
and for the 9,999.00 reporting question..there are ways one can get around that - where there is a will there is a way.
Ya Ali Madad.
Shams
I do not think that would be necessary. Given that lottery wins are 'sour grapes', it is very unlikely that the Imam would bless his true devotees with that kind of income. The anecdote in the life of Pir Subzali that I quoted before in this thread. provides invaluable and ample food for reflection in this regard.
So all fluff no answer! As memory serves me correctly in early 1980s there have been few Ismailis who have won the lottery in Canada and that was pointed out to The Imam and I believe the comment was that this is just a beginning, the Jamet has not seen the prosperity that awaits them...And to some of winnings did go towards building JK(s) in Ontario. May be those grapes were spicy not sour, eah?
Post an answer if you know it, that’s all. I think being optimistic and thinking positive can get you further in life instead of thinking that everyone is out there to get you and being pessimistic.
Post an answer if you know it, that’s all. I think being optimistic and thinking positive can get you further in life instead of thinking that everyone is out there to get you and being pessimistic.
In my opinion living in expectation of a lottery win is the worst possible form of pessimism. We should make a distinction between greed and need or legitmate prosperity and illegitimate prosperity.unnalhaq wrote:Post an answer if you know it, that’s all. I think being optimistic and thinking positive can get you further in life instead of thinking that everyone is out there to get you and being pessimistic.
In this regard it would be helpful to reflect upon Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah's following statement in his memoirs.
"When I read about the "millions of pounds a year" I am supposed to possess, I know only that if I had an income of that size I should be ashamed of myself. There is a great deal of truth in Andrew Carnegie's remark: "The man who dies rich, dies disgraced." I should add: The man who lives rich, lives disgraced. By "lives rich", I mean the man who lives and spends for his own pleasure at a rate and on a scale of living in excess of that customary among those called nowadays "the upper income group" in the country of which he is a citizen. I am not a communist, nor do I believe that a high standard of private life is a sin and an affront to society. I feel no flicker of shame at owning three or four cars; in India, where a great many people from outside come and go, I always have more cars for their use.
....
I would have been a profoundly unhappy man if I had possessed one-tenth of the fabulous amount of wealth which people say that I have at my disposal, for then indeed I should have felt all my life that I was carrying a dead weight-useless alike to my family and my friends or, for that matter, to my followers. Beyond a certain point wealth and the material advantages which it brings, do more harm than good, to societies as to individuals."
Brazil rocked by arrest of lotto winner's widow
Herald News Services
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Brazilian police have arrested the young widow of a multimillionaire lottery winner while prosecutors decide whether to charge her with his killing, a crime that has gripped the country and generated public fury against a woman viewed as a ruthless gold digger.
Brazilian newspapers on Wednesday ran front-page photos of Adriana Almeida, wearing a tight T-shirt and wraparound designer sunglasses, being escorted to jail from a hotel in a luxury seaside community near Rio.
The former hairdresser, who married Renne Senna, 54, after he hit the jackpot, was greeted by cries of "Tramp!" and "Murderer!" as she arrived Tuesday at the lockup. Police spokesman Marcele Mendes said she will be held for at least 30 days,
During that time, prosecutors will evaluate the police investigation and determine whether to ask a judge to charge Almeida. Globo TV reported Wednesday that police are also looking for four men suspected of involvement in the killing.
© The Calgary Herald 2007
Herald News Services
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Brazilian police have arrested the young widow of a multimillionaire lottery winner while prosecutors decide whether to charge her with his killing, a crime that has gripped the country and generated public fury against a woman viewed as a ruthless gold digger.
Brazilian newspapers on Wednesday ran front-page photos of Adriana Almeida, wearing a tight T-shirt and wraparound designer sunglasses, being escorted to jail from a hotel in a luxury seaside community near Rio.
The former hairdresser, who married Renne Senna, 54, after he hit the jackpot, was greeted by cries of "Tramp!" and "Murderer!" as she arrived Tuesday at the lockup. Police spokesman Marcele Mendes said she will be held for at least 30 days,
During that time, prosecutors will evaluate the police investigation and determine whether to ask a judge to charge Almeida. Globo TV reported Wednesday that police are also looking for four men suspected of involvement in the killing.
© The Calgary Herald 2007
Lotto winners sued over parties
CanWest News Service
Sunday, February 18, 2007
A Portland, Ore. couple who won a $2.6-million lottery jackpot and spoke of helping young people fight drug addiction and alcohol abuse are facing a lawsuit alleging they held four months of parties with public sex, fights and signs of drug dealing.
The city lawsuit against Elizabeth and Samuel Howard also detailed allegations of an assault on a neighbour, slashed tires and loud music.
Samuel Howard, 54, denied the allegations. "I just feel like I'm a victim in the whole situation," he said Friday.
The lawsuit was filed under a chronic nuisance law aimed at ridding neighbourhoods of crime-infested properties. The city wants to board the house up for six to 12 months.
The Howards bought the $285,000 house last July. In the first four months after they moved in, police were called to the street 52 times, the lawsuit says. It says children are often used as lookouts and there are frequent, brief visits and multiple locks on the door, all indications of drug dealing.
The Oregonian newspaper said the couple and two sons named in the suit have criminal histories including convictions for drug offences and robbery.
CanWest News Service
Sunday, February 18, 2007
A Portland, Ore. couple who won a $2.6-million lottery jackpot and spoke of helping young people fight drug addiction and alcohol abuse are facing a lawsuit alleging they held four months of parties with public sex, fights and signs of drug dealing.
The city lawsuit against Elizabeth and Samuel Howard also detailed allegations of an assault on a neighbour, slashed tires and loud music.
Samuel Howard, 54, denied the allegations. "I just feel like I'm a victim in the whole situation," he said Friday.
The lawsuit was filed under a chronic nuisance law aimed at ridding neighbourhoods of crime-infested properties. The city wants to board the house up for six to 12 months.
The Howards bought the $285,000 house last July. In the first four months after they moved in, police were called to the street 52 times, the lawsuit says. It says children are often used as lookouts and there are frequent, brief visits and multiple locks on the door, all indications of drug dealing.
The Oregonian newspaper said the couple and two sons named in the suit have criminal histories including convictions for drug offences and robbery.
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From_Alamut
- Posts: 666
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 8:22 am
OLG lottery is Haram or not?
Someone asked me today weather it is haram to play Lottery or not. But so far as I know gambling is haram in Islam. There are many type of Lotteries for example, Casino lotteries and National Lottery ( OLG ) etc.... I am sure all type of Casino gambling lotteries are strongly Haram in Islam.... But what about National Lottery..... isn't it also a form of gambling? I ask a friend where does all those money goes when million people buy lottery tickets for National Lottery, he said it goes to hospital for sick people. What do you guys think about this famous Lottery company in Canada OLG http://www.olg.ca .... Where does all those money goes when million people buy ticket? Who own this OLG company lottery? Is it haram to play this company lottery?
Your response is appreciated....
Your response is appreciated....
I do not know it is Haram or Halal to play state or national lottery but as a Texas Lottery retailer I sold many lottery tickets and still selling lottery tickets to Ismailis and other non Ismaili muslims and I know that few lucky Ismailis who already won the big lottery prizes in past and there are few Ismaili retailer who also won the lottery commission to selling winning lottery ticket at their store, and as per my knowledge they didn't refuse to take lottery money if they think it is haram.
Here I am asking you all if any Ismaili won the lottery should he/she needs to pay Dasond on that lottery money or not? I heard in one waez that Mowlana Sultan Mohammad Shah one time refused to take dasond of one Ismaili who won the lottery ticket in India.
By the way money of Texas lottery spend as follows:-
62% money paid in prizes
27% money spend in foundation school fund
5 % money spend in retailer commission
5 % money spend in Lottery administration
1 % other state programm ( unclaimed prizes)
100 % total
This calculation is for the state of Texas and I beleive that Canadian lottery company OLG must have same type of spending if it run under canadian government.
Here I am asking you all if any Ismaili won the lottery should he/she needs to pay Dasond on that lottery money or not? I heard in one waez that Mowlana Sultan Mohammad Shah one time refused to take dasond of one Ismaili who won the lottery ticket in India.
By the way money of Texas lottery spend as follows:-
62% money paid in prizes
27% money spend in foundation school fund
5 % money spend in retailer commission
5 % money spend in Lottery administration
1 % other state programm ( unclaimed prizes)
100 % total
This calculation is for the state of Texas and I beleive that Canadian lottery company OLG must have same type of spending if it run under canadian government.
Fortney: Lottery millionaires' life 'boring' but 'very happy'
By Valerie Fortney, Calgary HeraldJune 11, 2010
Rena and Robert Grimstad of Crossfield, Alberta, kiss after receiving a cheque for over $14 million at the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commision office in St. Albert August 16, 2007.
Photograph by: Dan Riedlhuber, Edmonton JournalAlong with the obvious fact they have a lot more money than the rest of us, lottery winners are different in a variety of ways.
First, they are as elusive as the sasquatch: you won't find them on Facebook; their names rarely bring up a Google hit outside of the news of their win; and good luck tracking down a listed phone number.
This I learned Thursday after harnessing all my wily research skills in an attempt to speak with a handful of past lottery winners from these parts.
Some of them have done such a good vanishing act, in fact, it's as if they never existed.
When you do manage to get one within your clutches, they wriggle free quickly.
"We're very, very boring," Rena Grimstad, a former Crossfield resident who with her husband Robert won $14.6 million in the Lotto 6/49 in 2007, tries to assure me.
Other than the fact that they're "very happy" -- which comes as no shock -- Rena, a great-grandmother in her 70s, doesn't offer up much more details on the life she and her retired Armed Forces member husband lead today, somewhere in northern Alberta. She insists, though, that the overall quality of their lives has changed little from their windfall, and that, in fact, her husband still plays the lottery.
"I'm sure he's already bought his lottery tickets for Friday's draw," she says. "Winning hasn't stopped him from that habit."
I can't say I'm too happy to know that such a lucky guy is lining up with me and other dreamers in anticipation of tonight's $50-million Lotto Max draw which, thanks to an additional 20 $1-million prizes, sets a record for the largest prize amount in Canadian history.
The last time I was tapped to write about lottery fever was back in 2005, when the 6/49 jackpot hit $54.3 million, at the time the biggest in Canadian lotteries history. After the busy ticket kiosks across the country closed, 17 Camrose gas plant co-workers ended the day as instant millionaires, each taking home over $3 million.
So, how to prepare if you find yourself one of Canada's newest millionaires later today? After fruitlessly trying to gather words of wisdom from past winners, I resorted to a little digging of my own and discovered that "fasten your seat belt" is really the best advice.
That's because a lottery win has a way of attracting all sorts of unusual people and experiences, some good and some not-so-good, into your life.
If you choose to celebrate by having sex atop your new BMW, as Vancouver's Mohammed Shakil Khan did after winning $3.9 million in the B.C. Lotto in 2007, you might find that kind of getting lucky winds you up in a courtroom. Or you could totally lose your marbles and become like Steve Gilbert, who insisted after winning $3.79 million in the Lotto 6/49 in 2007 that he still planned to return to his job at a grocery warehouse in Winnipeg. Or you could be like 26-year-old Mark Kathler, who after winning nearly $800,000 in a Lotto 6/49 draw way back in 1996, told the Herald he was bored, had "nothing to do" and that winning the lottery wasn't at all what it's cracked up to be, because his friends couldn't afford to go out with him.
You may also want to brace yourself for some unwanted attention, as a few of the 2005 Camrose winners discovered.
Teresa Lewis, whose husband Calvin worked at the plant and was one of the winners, told a Canwest reporter in 2006 that her family received requests for money from strangers from all over the country, and one letter that along with "nonsensical ramblings, it also mentioned kidnapping."
Then again, maybe you'll be just like Rena and Robert Grimstad, and the money won't mean much.
"We were already happy, yes we were," Rena says Thursday before admitting, in a polite but firm tone, that she really doesn't like talking to journalists, or anyone else for that matter, about her overnight millionaire experience.
"Honestly, we're very dull," she says just before announcing our interview is now over. "There's really nothing else to tell you. We don't attract much attention, and that's the way we like to keep it."
All across the country today, millions of Canadians are hoping that they, too, can be equally dull, happy and rich.
[email protected]
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
By Valerie Fortney, Calgary HeraldJune 11, 2010
Rena and Robert Grimstad of Crossfield, Alberta, kiss after receiving a cheque for over $14 million at the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commision office in St. Albert August 16, 2007.
Photograph by: Dan Riedlhuber, Edmonton JournalAlong with the obvious fact they have a lot more money than the rest of us, lottery winners are different in a variety of ways.
First, they are as elusive as the sasquatch: you won't find them on Facebook; their names rarely bring up a Google hit outside of the news of their win; and good luck tracking down a listed phone number.
This I learned Thursday after harnessing all my wily research skills in an attempt to speak with a handful of past lottery winners from these parts.
Some of them have done such a good vanishing act, in fact, it's as if they never existed.
When you do manage to get one within your clutches, they wriggle free quickly.
"We're very, very boring," Rena Grimstad, a former Crossfield resident who with her husband Robert won $14.6 million in the Lotto 6/49 in 2007, tries to assure me.
Other than the fact that they're "very happy" -- which comes as no shock -- Rena, a great-grandmother in her 70s, doesn't offer up much more details on the life she and her retired Armed Forces member husband lead today, somewhere in northern Alberta. She insists, though, that the overall quality of their lives has changed little from their windfall, and that, in fact, her husband still plays the lottery.
"I'm sure he's already bought his lottery tickets for Friday's draw," she says. "Winning hasn't stopped him from that habit."
I can't say I'm too happy to know that such a lucky guy is lining up with me and other dreamers in anticipation of tonight's $50-million Lotto Max draw which, thanks to an additional 20 $1-million prizes, sets a record for the largest prize amount in Canadian history.
The last time I was tapped to write about lottery fever was back in 2005, when the 6/49 jackpot hit $54.3 million, at the time the biggest in Canadian lotteries history. After the busy ticket kiosks across the country closed, 17 Camrose gas plant co-workers ended the day as instant millionaires, each taking home over $3 million.
So, how to prepare if you find yourself one of Canada's newest millionaires later today? After fruitlessly trying to gather words of wisdom from past winners, I resorted to a little digging of my own and discovered that "fasten your seat belt" is really the best advice.
That's because a lottery win has a way of attracting all sorts of unusual people and experiences, some good and some not-so-good, into your life.
If you choose to celebrate by having sex atop your new BMW, as Vancouver's Mohammed Shakil Khan did after winning $3.9 million in the B.C. Lotto in 2007, you might find that kind of getting lucky winds you up in a courtroom. Or you could totally lose your marbles and become like Steve Gilbert, who insisted after winning $3.79 million in the Lotto 6/49 in 2007 that he still planned to return to his job at a grocery warehouse in Winnipeg. Or you could be like 26-year-old Mark Kathler, who after winning nearly $800,000 in a Lotto 6/49 draw way back in 1996, told the Herald he was bored, had "nothing to do" and that winning the lottery wasn't at all what it's cracked up to be, because his friends couldn't afford to go out with him.
You may also want to brace yourself for some unwanted attention, as a few of the 2005 Camrose winners discovered.
Teresa Lewis, whose husband Calvin worked at the plant and was one of the winners, told a Canwest reporter in 2006 that her family received requests for money from strangers from all over the country, and one letter that along with "nonsensical ramblings, it also mentioned kidnapping."
Then again, maybe you'll be just like Rena and Robert Grimstad, and the money won't mean much.
"We were already happy, yes we were," Rena says Thursday before admitting, in a polite but firm tone, that she really doesn't like talking to journalists, or anyone else for that matter, about her overnight millionaire experience.
"Honestly, we're very dull," she says just before announcing our interview is now over. "There's really nothing else to tell you. We don't attract much attention, and that's the way we like to keep it."
All across the country today, millions of Canadians are hoping that they, too, can be equally dull, happy and rich.
[email protected]
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
http://www.calgaryherald.com/story_prin ... 6&sponsor=
November 30, 2012
The Bad Luck of Winning
By JOE NOCERA
“We’re normal human beings,” said Cindy Hill on Friday, moments after she and her husband, Mark, posed with an oversized check for $293,750,000. “We’re common,” she added. “We just have more money.”
The check, of course, represented their half of the $588 million Powerball jackpot, which the Hills had just won, along with another, as yet unidentified, winner. From one point of view — the point of view of lottery officials — you couldn’t ask for more ideal winners than the Hills.
Mark works for a meatpacking plant. Cindy is a clerical worker who was laid off in June 2010. When they were introduced to the news media on Friday, their adopted daughter in tow, they talked about how the money might allow them to adopt another child. They said they were going to help various relatives pay for college. They insisted that the money wouldn’t change them. The only extravagance they mentioned was a red Camaro that Mark wanted. They made winning the lottery seem downright heartwarming.
But it’s not. On the contrary, lotteries may well be the single most insidious way that state governments raise money. Many of the people who buy lottery tickets are poor; lotteries are essentially a form of regressive taxation. The odds against winning a big jackpot are astronomical — far worse than the odds at an Atlantic City slot machine. The get-rich-quick marketing — by government, let’s not forget — is offensive. One New York Powerball ad shows a private jet emblazoned with the words “Kevin’s Airline.” The tag line reads: “Yeah, that kind of rich.”
Oh, and let’s not forget the fate of the people who win. They may be “that kind of rich” on the day they hit the jackpot, but, more often than not, they don’t stay that way. People who suddenly fall into extreme wealth — whether because of an insurance settlement, a professional sports contract, or a lottery win — rarely know how to handle their new circumstances.
There is, to take one of the most prominent examples, the story of Jack Whittaker, a West Virginia businessman who won a $315 million Powerball jackpot in 2002. A decade later, his daughter and granddaughter had died of drug overdoses, his wife had divorced him, and he had been sued numerous times. Once, when he was at a strip club, someone drugged his drink and took $545,000 in cash that had been sitting in his car. He later sobbed to reporters, “I wish I’d torn that ticket up.”
I read about Whittaker, and a host of other sad stories about lottery winners, in a recent e-book written by Don McNay entitled, “Life Lessons From the Lottery.” McNay is a financial adviser and newspaper columnist, based in Kentucky, whom I’ve gotten to know over the years. He specializes in helping people who have come into sudden money. He is convinced that the vast majority of people who win big-money lotteries, like the recent Powerball prize, wind up broke within five years. “The money just overwhelms them,” he told me the other day. “It just causes them to lose their sense of values.”
Every once in a while, a lottery jackpot, like the recent Powerball, becomes so large that it attracts national attention. People who normally understand that lotteries are a sucker’s game, can’t resist buying a ticket or two. It all seems like good fun. It is worth remembering the damage lotteries do — sucking money from the disadvantaged, while burdening the winners with sums they can’t handle — and remembering as well this is the doing not of some nasty corporation but of government. Whatever else lotteries are, they aren’t harmless.
It is impossible to know whether the Hills will be able to remain “normal” once they cash their nine-figure check. McNay says that those who do the best are the people who are able to remain anonymous, take the money in annual increments, find a good financial adviser who can insulate them from all the new friends they are going to have, and spend their money with some real purpose in mind.
Based on what they said at the press conference, the Hills seem conscious of the need to get professional financial help. On the other hand, they are anything but anonymous. Like most states, Missouri insists on showcasing lottery winners, as it did with the Hills on Friday. What better marketing tool for lottery officials than the winners’ happy smiles and that oversized check? The Hills, alas, have also decided to take their money in a lump sum, which, after taxes and a lump-sum discount, will amount to $132 million.
“Powerball Winners Already Divorced, Bankrupt,” read the headline in the satirical newspaper, The Onion, the day after the winning numbers were announced.
It was a funny story, but it’s no joke.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opini ... 21201&_r=0
The Bad Luck of Winning
By JOE NOCERA
“We’re normal human beings,” said Cindy Hill on Friday, moments after she and her husband, Mark, posed with an oversized check for $293,750,000. “We’re common,” she added. “We just have more money.”
The check, of course, represented their half of the $588 million Powerball jackpot, which the Hills had just won, along with another, as yet unidentified, winner. From one point of view — the point of view of lottery officials — you couldn’t ask for more ideal winners than the Hills.
Mark works for a meatpacking plant. Cindy is a clerical worker who was laid off in June 2010. When they were introduced to the news media on Friday, their adopted daughter in tow, they talked about how the money might allow them to adopt another child. They said they were going to help various relatives pay for college. They insisted that the money wouldn’t change them. The only extravagance they mentioned was a red Camaro that Mark wanted. They made winning the lottery seem downright heartwarming.
But it’s not. On the contrary, lotteries may well be the single most insidious way that state governments raise money. Many of the people who buy lottery tickets are poor; lotteries are essentially a form of regressive taxation. The odds against winning a big jackpot are astronomical — far worse than the odds at an Atlantic City slot machine. The get-rich-quick marketing — by government, let’s not forget — is offensive. One New York Powerball ad shows a private jet emblazoned with the words “Kevin’s Airline.” The tag line reads: “Yeah, that kind of rich.”
Oh, and let’s not forget the fate of the people who win. They may be “that kind of rich” on the day they hit the jackpot, but, more often than not, they don’t stay that way. People who suddenly fall into extreme wealth — whether because of an insurance settlement, a professional sports contract, or a lottery win — rarely know how to handle their new circumstances.
There is, to take one of the most prominent examples, the story of Jack Whittaker, a West Virginia businessman who won a $315 million Powerball jackpot in 2002. A decade later, his daughter and granddaughter had died of drug overdoses, his wife had divorced him, and he had been sued numerous times. Once, when he was at a strip club, someone drugged his drink and took $545,000 in cash that had been sitting in his car. He later sobbed to reporters, “I wish I’d torn that ticket up.”
I read about Whittaker, and a host of other sad stories about lottery winners, in a recent e-book written by Don McNay entitled, “Life Lessons From the Lottery.” McNay is a financial adviser and newspaper columnist, based in Kentucky, whom I’ve gotten to know over the years. He specializes in helping people who have come into sudden money. He is convinced that the vast majority of people who win big-money lotteries, like the recent Powerball prize, wind up broke within five years. “The money just overwhelms them,” he told me the other day. “It just causes them to lose their sense of values.”
Every once in a while, a lottery jackpot, like the recent Powerball, becomes so large that it attracts national attention. People who normally understand that lotteries are a sucker’s game, can’t resist buying a ticket or two. It all seems like good fun. It is worth remembering the damage lotteries do — sucking money from the disadvantaged, while burdening the winners with sums they can’t handle — and remembering as well this is the doing not of some nasty corporation but of government. Whatever else lotteries are, they aren’t harmless.
It is impossible to know whether the Hills will be able to remain “normal” once they cash their nine-figure check. McNay says that those who do the best are the people who are able to remain anonymous, take the money in annual increments, find a good financial adviser who can insulate them from all the new friends they are going to have, and spend their money with some real purpose in mind.
Based on what they said at the press conference, the Hills seem conscious of the need to get professional financial help. On the other hand, they are anything but anonymous. Like most states, Missouri insists on showcasing lottery winners, as it did with the Hills on Friday. What better marketing tool for lottery officials than the winners’ happy smiles and that oversized check? The Hills, alas, have also decided to take their money in a lump sum, which, after taxes and a lump-sum discount, will amount to $132 million.
“Powerball Winners Already Divorced, Bankrupt,” read the headline in the satirical newspaper, The Onion, the day after the winning numbers were announced.
It was a funny story, but it’s no joke.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/01/opini ... 21201&_r=0
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KalCanadian
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:24 am
Lotteries
YAM.... <BR><BR>Just a question... Lotteries are GAME OF CHANCE..... Game of Chances are gambling... <BR>Many Ismailies go to Casino and win the $$$$.... <BR>Dasond is to purify our earnings. Most of our earnings is our hard earned money. <BR>Do we take dosand off the gambling money? Does that purify the gambling money?<BR><BR>Thank you.<BR>[/quote]
I have a problem with statements such as "Ismailis go to Casino". What kind of propaganda is this? How do you know this? Did you go there? H if yes did you go there because you were an Ismaili or because you were a non-Ismilis. How many Ismailis did you see at the Casino. Maybe few have gone because of bad habits or curiosity.
Better do not make a generalisation. If you see a blind person at the Casino and then suggest most blind people go to Casino, would that make any sense? This is the second message where you criticise the community as a while for the alleged misdeed of very few if of any. Why are you trying to link then the allegation to the subject of Dassond?
Is this line of thinking only by chance or is there an agenda here?
Better do not make a generalisation. If you see a blind person at the Casino and then suggest most blind people go to Casino, would that make any sense? This is the second message where you criticise the community as a while for the alleged misdeed of very few if of any. Why are you trying to link then the allegation to the subject of Dassond?
Is this line of thinking only by chance or is there an agenda here?
About Dasond:-
In my opinion 'no' but you decide by your self after reading this; One time in Mumbai Sultan Mohammad Shah (s.a.) refused to take money from a gambler from Punjab, now you can decide by your self whether giving a Dasond of a lottery winning or casino is ok or not?.
I do not agree with Admin, I personally knows many Ismailis from Texas who are just travelling Las Vegas and New Orleans just for gambling, however most of time they come back after loosing big money and says that I will not go back again but they go back again and again I think that is why peoples are saying Gambling is a bad habit.
In my opinion 'no' but you decide by your self after reading this; One time in Mumbai Sultan Mohammad Shah (s.a.) refused to take money from a gambler from Punjab, now you can decide by your self whether giving a Dasond of a lottery winning or casino is ok or not?.
I do not agree with Admin, I personally knows many Ismailis from Texas who are just travelling Las Vegas and New Orleans just for gambling, however most of time they come back after loosing big money and says that I will not go back again but they go back again and again I think that is why peoples are saying Gambling is a bad habit.
One should never generalise.
Gambling is a bad habit, I would say an "evil" habit, it has ruined people, families, relations, communities, even empires.
This does not mean "many" Ismailis are gambling. On the other side, many "sheiks" and "Muslims" from whatever countries are found in casinos... does it mean it is a general habits amongst Muslims or Sheiks?
Gambling is a bad habit, I would say an "evil" habit, it has ruined people, families, relations, communities, even empires.
This does not mean "many" Ismailis are gambling. On the other side, many "sheiks" and "Muslims" from whatever countries are found in casinos... does it mean it is a general habits amongst Muslims or Sheiks?
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KalCanadian
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:24 am
Lotteries
Dear Admin Saheb
Thank you and Ya Ali Madad
Why is that asking questions make you angry. This forum is for sharing and those who have questions should be encouraged to be educated.
As our beloved Hazar Imam says our faith values intellect and logic. If we do not answer the questions with open hearts then where do our people go for answers. Should they go to wrong people then they get wrong advice. It is a fact that there are many of us not only in North America but it third world country who are into this habit. Instead of us becoming defensive and trying to make the person questioning feel so anti-ismaili - without even knowing the person who is writing into the forum - why not get someone who can educate others.
I am a born practising ismaili. I am not a converted Non-ismaili. I am not sure if this forum is not at all to ask questions. Anyways seems my question and input have made the Admin angry... Apology....
Thank you and Ya Ali Madad
Why is that asking questions make you angry. This forum is for sharing and those who have questions should be encouraged to be educated.
As our beloved Hazar Imam says our faith values intellect and logic. If we do not answer the questions with open hearts then where do our people go for answers. Should they go to wrong people then they get wrong advice. It is a fact that there are many of us not only in North America but it third world country who are into this habit. Instead of us becoming defensive and trying to make the person questioning feel so anti-ismaili - without even knowing the person who is writing into the forum - why not get someone who can educate others.
I am a born practising ismaili. I am not a converted Non-ismaili. I am not sure if this forum is not at all to ask questions. Anyways seems my question and input have made the Admin angry... Apology....
Good question brother, this question has been discussed many time in dasond thread, so now please ask this question to your local Tariqa Board Chairman? I want to know what he has to say about this?
There are many farmans of current Imam not to involve in Tobacco and Alcohol businesses but jamat doesn't have taken it seriously. In Houston and most cities in Texas many c-store owners have '8 liners' which are illegal to have in store as per Texas law but they are making tons of money from it so they keep it, council members always warns them not to have these gambling games in store but till today nothing has been changed.
There are many farmans of current Imam not to involve in Tobacco and Alcohol businesses but jamat doesn't have taken it seriously. In Houston and most cities in Texas many c-store owners have '8 liners' which are illegal to have in store as per Texas law but they are making tons of money from it so they keep it, council members always warns them not to have these gambling games in store but till today nothing has been changed.
Last edited by agakhani on Sat Dec 15, 2012 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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shiraz.virani
- Posts: 1256
- Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 2:52 pm
You would never, never find an answer for this question...Not on this site, nor from the mukhi/kamadiya or anyone else for that matter.....A person should ask these sorts of question to his ownself...Does his soul allow him to do something thats against his religion ??What about some Ismailis who own convenience stores and have gambling like lotteries, game machines and alcohol - can they remove dasond with their earnings? Islam forbids Gambling and alcohol
Over here you'll get all sorts of funny answers as to you're just selling a product and if a person buys alcohol or drugs from your store and commits a crime...you shouldnt worry about it...Its not your fault !!.....I have heard this sooo many times brother/sister...Now its your turn !!
The bottom line is....Na biwi na bacha, na baap bada na bhaiya, the whole thing is that ke bhaiya sabse bada rupaiyya !!
Sorry to wake up the old thread here.
Winning a big lottery like 6/49 or lotto max isn't a bad thing.
Think that GOD gave you a gift. I will tell you my story. One day i was rushing to work and forgot my wallet at home. When lunch time came, i went to a 7-11 close by and told myself that i would eat their big bite (All beef hot dogs) and a drink with it. I go to the cashier to pay for my lunch, and i see no wallet in my back pocket. I checked my front pocket and find a loonie (Canadian dollar) I close my eyes and ask Mowla, Oh Mowla, you are the one who gives rojee to everyone. You do not even forget a little ant and provide for them as well. You are the creator and the destroyer. Ya Mowla, i am hungry. Please provide me some food. A thought came to my mind to buy a lottery ticket for a dollar. I bought a ticket and won $20 with it. I had a great lunch and was thanking Mowla the whole day. Infact, i thank him til today and i will never forget that day. If Mowla wants to give you...He will give you and consider it as a gift. The way i look at it, Mowla put it in my head to buy the lottery ticket and i did. So if he's against it, why did he put that thought in my head? My Brother won $19,000 once and he gave dasond out of it. He told me that if Mowla gives me, i will give my dasond from it. Mowla doesn't want you to clean your bank account on gambling or risking betting your home on gambling.
Winning a big lottery like 6/49 or lotto max isn't a bad thing.
Think that GOD gave you a gift. I will tell you my story. One day i was rushing to work and forgot my wallet at home. When lunch time came, i went to a 7-11 close by and told myself that i would eat their big bite (All beef hot dogs) and a drink with it. I go to the cashier to pay for my lunch, and i see no wallet in my back pocket. I checked my front pocket and find a loonie (Canadian dollar) I close my eyes and ask Mowla, Oh Mowla, you are the one who gives rojee to everyone. You do not even forget a little ant and provide for them as well. You are the creator and the destroyer. Ya Mowla, i am hungry. Please provide me some food. A thought came to my mind to buy a lottery ticket for a dollar. I bought a ticket and won $20 with it. I had a great lunch and was thanking Mowla the whole day. Infact, i thank him til today and i will never forget that day. If Mowla wants to give you...He will give you and consider it as a gift. The way i look at it, Mowla put it in my head to buy the lottery ticket and i did. So if he's against it, why did he put that thought in my head? My Brother won $19,000 once and he gave dasond out of it. He told me that if Mowla gives me, i will give my dasond from it. Mowla doesn't want you to clean your bank account on gambling or risking betting your home on gambling.
Also, there are few people that i know (Ismaili's) who are always in a casino. In Toronto, they have a bus that takes Ismaili seniors to Niagra falls to casino. If that's the case, why aren't the council stopping that? It all depends on how you look at it. So what i can't give my dasond if i own a liquor store?
Quite correctAdmin wrote
Gambling is a bad habit, I would say an "evil" habit, it has ruined people, families, relations, communities, even empires.
Those who participate in promoting gambling are also responsible for this evil habit.
Those who permit their horses in races where people bet are promoting this evil habit, it does not matter if they place bets or not.
Hadith - Al-Tirmidhi #2776, Narrated Anas ibn MalikHaysal wrote
What about some Ismailis who own convenience stores and have gambling like lotteries, game machines and alcohol - can they remove dasond with their earnings? Islam forbids Gambling and alcohol
Allah's Messenger cursed ten people in connection with wine: the wine-presser, the one who has it pressed, the one who drinks it, the one who conveys it, the one to whom it is conveyed, the one who serves it, the one who sells it, the one who benefits from the price paid for it, the one who buys it, and the one for whom it is bought.
Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah transmitted it.
This means those who own and run hotel chains which serve and sell alcohol are cursed by Prophet SAW.