One who cheats in exams and then gets employed and takes a salary: is this money considered forbidden and part of consuming usury?
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The questioner : He says: I am one of those who cheated in the exam and passed, and cheated and passed, until I was employed in one of the companies, and I started taking money. Is this money forbidden, and is it part of consuming usury? Please advise me, may Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : I say that if a student passes by cheating, then repentance is sufficient before the certificate, meaning, for example, he passed in the first, second, and third years, this is in secondary school, but in the third year he did not cheat; he cheated in the first and second years and did not cheat in the third, he passed honestly. We say this is sufficient for him to repent to Allah, because the job, for example, is based on the certificate, and the certificate is clean. Likewise, if he graduated from the college and was cheating in the first, second, and third years, but in the fourth year the exam was clean, then this is sufficient for him to repent, and there is no problem with it in our view, if Allah wills, that what he takes and receives of the salary based on this certificate is lawful for him as long as the certificate is clean. But the problem is if the cheating was in the last thing, in the certificate, then this means the certificate is now forged, or not forged? Forged, and the job is based on this certificate, so the money he takes remains doubtful. But I say if he repents to Allah with sincere repentance, and the subject in which he cheated has no connection to the work he performs, then we hope that his salary will be lawful, for example, if his cheating was in a subject with no connection to the job he was employed in, such as English, and the job he is in does not require English and has no connection to it, then we hope that if he repents, the salary he takes will be lawful.
Yes.
The Shaykh : I say that if a student passes by cheating, then repentance is sufficient before the certificate, meaning, for example, he passed in the first, second, and third years, this is in secondary school, but in the third year he did not cheat; he cheated in the first and second years and did not cheat in the third, he passed honestly. We say this is sufficient for him to repent to Allah, because the job, for example, is based on the certificate, and the certificate is clean. Likewise, if he graduated from the college and was cheating in the first, second, and third years, but in the fourth year the exam was clean, then this is sufficient for him to repent, and there is no problem with it in our view, if Allah wills, that what he takes and receives of the salary based on this certificate is lawful for him as long as the certificate is clean. But the problem is if the cheating was in the last thing, in the certificate, then this means the certificate is now forged, or not forged? Forged, and the job is based on this certificate, so the money he takes remains doubtful. But I say if he repents to Allah with sincere repentance, and the subject in which he cheated has no connection to the work he performs, then we hope that his salary will be lawful, for example, if his cheating was in a subject with no connection to the job he was employed in, such as English, and the job he is in does not require English and has no connection to it, then we hope that if he repents, the salary he takes will be lawful.
Yes.