A new United Arab Emirates lottery is offering a record prize while dancing on the edge of religious propriety.

This weekend, Emirates Loto broadcast the UAE’s first official lottery drawing, which featured Lebanese television host Wissam Breidy and Indian actress/model Aishwarya Ajit. The grand prize for matching all six numbers was AED35m (US$9.5m) but the closest anyone got was one player who matched five numbers for an AED350k prize.

The jackpot for next week’s draw now increases to AED40m and, should no one match all six numbers, will continue to increase until its maximum cap of AED50m. There are other lotteries in the UAE but they offer much smaller prizes and tickets can only be purchased via the Duty Free areas of international airports, with the result that the winners are all foreigners.

The Qur’an makes it clear that gambling is strictly forbidden (haram) but the lottery organizers managed to obtain a religious order (fatwa) issued by the General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments in Abu Dhabi exempting their product from this prohibition. The fatwa was secured by ensuring that there is an exchange of value in the transaction.