In Turkish mosques, imams will sometimes speak against games of chance, preaching to the devout that getting rich without labor and earning more than one deserves is religiously forbidden.
Such sermons could be considered natural, since most religions frown on gambling. What is not natural, though, is that Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate (RAD) produces fatwas to fit government policies. On Aug. 29, the 88-year-old National Lottery Agency was privatized with the backing of a RAD fatwa that declared lotteries to be illegitimate.