In some Arab countries, passports are taken from committed young people. Is it permissible to retrieve them by paying a specific amount to one of their employees?

The Shaykh : Our time is short, yes. Please, go ahead.

The questioner : Is it permissible to pay a bribe to passport office employees? It happens to us in Algeria that passports are taken from committed young people by the police. They cannot obtain them unless they pay a sum of money as a bribe to the passport office employees. Is that permissible?

The Shaykh : It is permissible, indeed it is obligatory, because this is not a bribe in the Shari'ah sense. A bribe is giving money to nullify a right or to establish a falsehood. As for giving money to obtain a suppressed right, this is not a bribe for the one who is wronged. As for the wrongdoer, he is a wrongdoer whether he takes a bribe or not. The issue differs between one sin and a doubled sin. That is, he is a wrongdoer, and when he takes a bribe, it is another sin. As for the one who pays it, there is no sin on him, because he seeks through it to reach his suppressed right. So we must know what a bribe is, because such a question is repeated in many forms. If we know that a bribe is money given to nullify a right or to establish a falsehood, then we will know the answer to many matters with which the Muslim is afflicted today, such as this case.