#1135: On Cheating During Examination And Paying Some Financial Inducement To Protect Oneself From Being Subjected To Exam Panel

Assalāmu alaykum warahmatullah wabarakātuhu.
Pls can I ask you a question. The question may sound funny o
” someone was caught during an examination cheating and she had no option than to bribe the supervisor or face panel ”
Now she is asking that is it haram if she bribed the supervisor ?

ANSWER:

Wa Alaykum Salam Warahmatullah Wabarakaatuh.

Alhamdulillah.

Firstly it is important to note that any cheating in the Exams Hall that contradicts the rules upon which the Muslim Sister has agreed during enrollment to such a school or examination is Haraam. This is because the Rasul salallahu alayhi wasallam has said, as was narrated by Imam Abu Daawud As-Sijistaani rahimahullah:

المسلمون على شروطهم

“Muslims are bound by their own agreed terms”

And in the Quran Allah said:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ [المائدة:1]

“O You who believe, fulfill your contracts”

That being the case, she needs to seek forgiveness from Allah and never turn back to that situation, seeking Allah’s help.

Secondly, as for whether she can pay some financial inducement to protect her from being subjected to the panel, then the answer to this is in 3 places.

First Place, the ruling of bribery in Islam. It is Haraam by consensus and a major sin among the sins. In the Hadith recorded by Imam Abu Isa At-Tirmidhi from Abdullah bn Amr radiyallahu anhuma, the Rasul salallahu alayhi wasallam said:

لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الراشي والمرتشي

“The Messenger of Allah salallahu alayhi wasallam Cursed the Giver of Bribe and the One who Asks for it or who is given”

And in some Narrations, he included the one who mediates and facilitates its payment.
But it is imperative to understand what bribery (Rashwah) is, as defined by the Shar’iah.

Second Place, how does the Shar’iah define Rashwah (Bribery)? It is the giving of some financial inducement to make someone rule in your Favour in the oppression of someone or to apportion to you what you do not deserve to have. Imam Abu Muhammad Ibn Hazm Al-Andalusi rahimahullah mentioned this in Al-Muhallaa.

Thus whatever a person pays to secure a right, to facilitate the securing of a right or to repel harm or oppression without a crime having being committed is not regarded as Bribe in the Shar’iah as the Fuqahaa have explained. Rather, the sin in this regard is upon the one who receives it and or asks for it.

Shaykhu Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah said in the Majmu’atu Al-Fataawah:

“If he gives some gift to repel an oppression from himself or to arrive at his right, this gift is Haraam for the receiver and permissible for the repeller to pay that”.

Third Place, can this giving be regarded as bribery if she gives this money to repel her being subjected to the panel? Then what is apparent to us is that this is not the bribery that is referred to in the Shar’iah. This is because this is not given to secure an undue right in the expense of someone or toward something which is wrong. Rather, it is a financial inducement to protect herself from some harm upon herself and the reputation of her family and Islam.

This is what is apparent to us from this situation and we ask Allah to Tawfiq and Sadaad.

But as we have said prior, this sister must seek to forgiveness of Allah and repent from such an act and never revert to it.

And Allah knows best.

Barakallahu Fikum
Jazakumullahu Khayran

Abū Āsim

8th Dhul-Hijjah, 1442AH.

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