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will pay careful attention to the following hadith. He who throws himself down from a rock and commits
suicide will be throwing himself into the fire of Hell; he who drinks poison and kills himself will have the
poison in his hand, drinking it forever in the fire of Hell and he who kills himself with a weapon will have that
weapon in his hand, stabbing himself forever in the fire of Hell. (Compiled by al-Bukhâri and Muslim.)
The Sanctity of Property
The Muslim is permitted to acquire wealth, as much as he desires, as long as he acquires it through lawful
means and increases it through lawful investments. While in another religion it is said, “It is easier for a
camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (The author
refers here to a quotation that the New Testament attributes to Jesus (pbuh). This does not imply that there
is sufficient evidence that he actually said it. According to the Qur‘ân there has been only one true, authentic
faith, Al-Islâm. Islâm means the attainment of peace through conscientious and loving submission to the Will
and Guidance of Allâh. This was the mission of all Prophets and Messengers in human history. It is the
same fundamental faith which was revealed to Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad (peace be upon them). The
original revelations givento Moses and Jesus are no longer available in their complete, original and
unadulterated form. The Qur‘ân is the only revelation which was meticulously preserved in its complete,
original, and unadulterated form. As such, it is to be used as the criterion to judge the authenticity of the
present forms of previous revelations.), in Islâm it is Said, “What an excellent thing is lawfully earned wealth
in the hands of a good man.” (Reported by Ahmad.)
Since the Islâmic Shari‘ah sanctions the right to personal property, it protects it, both by means of moral
exhortation and legislation, from robbery, theft, and fraud. The Prophet (peace tee on him) mentioned the
sanctity of property in the same sentence with the sanctity of life and honor and considered stealing as
contradictory to faith, saying, “A thief is not a Believer while he is engaged in stealing.” (Compiled by al-
Bukhâri and Muslim) Says Allâh Ta‘ala: As for the male and female thief, cut off their hands, a recompense
for what they earned, punishment from Allâh; and Allâh is Mighty, Wise. (5:41 (38)) And the Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) said, “It is haram for the Muslim to take (so much as) a stick without the consent of its owner”
(Reported by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih.), thus emphasizing what Allâh has prohibited to the Muslim in respect
of other people’sproperty.Allâh the Great and Glorious says: O you who believe, do not consume your
property among yourselves wrongfully, but let there be trade by mutual consent....(4:29)
The Prohibition of Bribery
Taking a bribe is one way of consuming someone else’s wealth wrongfully. A bribe refers to any kind of
property which is offered to a judge or public servant in order to obtain a decision in favor of oneself or
against a rival, to expedite one’s own affair, or to delay that of one’s competition, and so on.
Islâm has prohibited the Muslim to approach the officials of a government or their subordinates for the
purpose of offering them a bribe; it has prohibited the latter to accept it; and it has prohibited that any third
person should arrange matters between the givers and the takers of the bribe. Allâh Ta‘ala says: And do not
consume your property among yourselves wrongfully, nor seek access to judges by means of it in order that
you may sinfully consume a portion of people’swealth, while you know (what you do). (2:188)
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) said, “Allâh’s curse is on the one who offers the bribe and on the judge who accepts
it.” (Reported by Ahmad, al-Tirmidhî,and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih.) Thawban said, Allâh’s Messenger
(s.a.w.s.) cursed the one who offers the bribe, the one who receives it, and the one who arranges it.
(Reported by Ahmad and al-Hakim.)
If the recipient of the bribe accepts it in order to do injustice, his sin is the greater, while if he intended to do
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justice, it was his simple duty for which no payment was needed.
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) sent ‘Abdullah bin Rawahah to the Jews to estimate what they owed as taxes on their
palm trees. The Jews offered him some money as a gift. He told them, “What you have offered as a bribe is
haram and we do not accept it.” (Reported by Malik)
It is not surprising that Islâm has prohibited bribery and that it is severe against all those who participate in it.
The proliferation of bribery in a society leads to corruption and oppression: unjust decisions are made and
just ones are blocked, undeserving persons are given chances and deserving ones are passed over, and the
spirit of greed permeates the society in place of the spirit of dutifulness.
Gifts to Officials
The intention of the Islâmic Shari‘ah is to prohibit bribery in any shape or form. Thus, referring to a bribe as a
“gift” does not transfer it from the realm of the haram to that of the halal. A hadith states, When we (the
Prophet) appoint a person to a position, we take care of his provision. If he takes anything beyond that, it is
an illegal gain. (Reported by Abû Daoud.)
Caliph ‘Umar bin ‘Abd al-‘Aziz was given a gift which he refused. On being told that the Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
had accepted gifts, he said, “To him it was a gift, but to us it is a bribe.”
The Prophet (s.a.w.s.) sent a man to collect zakat from the Azd tribe. On returning to the Prophet (s.a.w.s.)
he kept something for himself, telling the Prophet (s.a.w.s.), “That is for you and this is for me as a gift.”
Thereupon the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) became angry and said, If what you say is right, would these gifts have
reached you if you had remained in your father’s or your mother’s house? He then continued, Why should a
person employed by me say, ‘That is for you and this is for me as a gift?‘ Did gifts reach him while he lived in
his mother’s house? By Him in Whose hand is my soul, no one takes something wrongfully without Allâh’s
making him carry it on the Day of Resurrection. So let none of you come on the day of Resurrection carrying
a braying camel, a mooing cow, or a bleating goat (which he received in this manner). He then raised his
hands high in supplication and said, O Allâh, have I conveyed the message? (Compiled by al-Bukhâri and
Muslim.)
Said Imam al-Ghazzali, In view of these admonitions, the judge or the governor or anyone in a position of
authority should imagine himself sitting in his father’s or mother’s house. If he thinks that even after leaving
the job he will still have received this gift while sitting in his mother’s house, he may accept the gift offered to
him. If, on the other hand, this gift is offered to him because of his position of authority, he must not accept it.
If he finds it difficult to decide, concerning gifts from his friends, whether they would still have given them to
him if he were not in that position, it is a doubtful situation and it is preferable to avoid accepting them. (Ihya
‘ulum al-deen, the book of “Al-halal wa al-haram,” in the section entitled “Al-adat” (Customs), p. 137.)
Bribery to Redress a Wrong
If someone finds himself in a situation in which all avenues of redressing a wrong done him, or recovering a
right which has been forfeited, are blocked except through the payment of a bribe, it is preferable that he
wait patiently until Allâh opens to him a better way of redressing the wrong or recovering his rights. Still,
should he resort to bribery, the sin of it will not be on him provided he has tried all other lawful avenues and
that in so doing he regains his own rights without infringing upon the rights of others; in such a case the
burden of the sin will fall entirely on the recipient of the bribe.
Some scholars have deduced this from ahadith reporting that the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) gave charity to some
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