He also asks, saying: What is the ruling on bribery to remove injustice from the briber, if it cannot be achieved except by that?
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The questioner : He also asks, saying: What is the ruling on bribery to remove injustice from the briber, if it cannot be achieved except by that?
The Shaykh : This is a great issue in which many people are involved. That is because some officials, may Allah keep us safe, delay the execution of people's affairs unless they are given a bribe. This bribe is derived from the term *rashah*, which is the means by which a person reaches the water in a well. It is the thing a person offers to achieve his objective. This objective is either forbidden or lawful. If the objective is forbidden, such as offering a bribe to achieve a false claim he has no right to, or to have a right that is obligatory upon him dropped, then this bribe is forbidden without doubt from two aspects. The first aspect is that it is aiding in consuming wealth by falsehood, where the one who receives the bribe consumes wealth by falsehood without right. The second aspect is that he uses it to invalidate a right or to establish a falsehood. There is no doubt in the prohibition of this, and it is, may Allah protect us, among the most corrupt things when it occurs in society.
As for the second type of bribery, it is that by which a person achieves a right that is established for him, but he is delayed in it until he pays this bribe. This is permissible for the payer if he cannot achieve his right except by it. However, it is forbidden for the one to whom it is paid, because by doing so he becomes a traitor and a consumer of wealth by falsehood. He is a traitor to the trust he was given and a consumer of wealth by falsehood, because he has no right to this wealth that was offered to him. And he, meaning the official, must establish justice and must perform his duty whether he is given [the bribe] or not, because this is the requirement of trust. But in such a case, people should report this man and his like to the rulers so that they establish justice with him, discipline him, and do what is obligatory for them to do, which is to impose a discretionary punishment on him that deters him and his like from such shameful work, may Allah protect us. Yes.
The Shaykh : This is a great issue in which many people are involved. That is because some officials, may Allah keep us safe, delay the execution of people's affairs unless they are given a bribe. This bribe is derived from the term *rashah*, which is the means by which a person reaches the water in a well. It is the thing a person offers to achieve his objective. This objective is either forbidden or lawful. If the objective is forbidden, such as offering a bribe to achieve a false claim he has no right to, or to have a right that is obligatory upon him dropped, then this bribe is forbidden without doubt from two aspects. The first aspect is that it is aiding in consuming wealth by falsehood, where the one who receives the bribe consumes wealth by falsehood without right. The second aspect is that he uses it to invalidate a right or to establish a falsehood. There is no doubt in the prohibition of this, and it is, may Allah protect us, among the most corrupt things when it occurs in society.
As for the second type of bribery, it is that by which a person achieves a right that is established for him, but he is delayed in it until he pays this bribe. This is permissible for the payer if he cannot achieve his right except by it. However, it is forbidden for the one to whom it is paid, because by doing so he becomes a traitor and a consumer of wealth by falsehood. He is a traitor to the trust he was given and a consumer of wealth by falsehood, because he has no right to this wealth that was offered to him. And he, meaning the official, must establish justice and must perform his duty whether he is given [the bribe] or not, because this is the requirement of trust. But in such a case, people should report this man and his like to the rulers so that they establish justice with him, discipline him, and do what is obligatory for them to do, which is to impose a discretionary punishment on him that deters him and his like from such shameful work, may Allah protect us. Yes.