BRIBERY
All praise is for Alláh. We praise Him, seek His aid and forgiveness. We further repent to Him and seek refuge with Him from the evil of ourselves and from our wrongdoings. Whomever Alláh guides none can lead astray, and whoever Alláh misguides none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Alláh Alone, having no partner with him. I also bear witness that Muhammad(pbuh) is His slave and Messenger. May the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him, his family, his Companions and anyone that follows in their footsteps until Judgement Day.
O people, fear Alláh and fulfill what he entrusted you with in all matters. Carry out these trusts with a pure intention and sincerity for Alláh(swt), submitting to Him and following His Commandments, and intending to remit yourselves from responsibility and correct your society. Allah(swt) says:
“O you who believe! Betray not Allah and His Messenger, nor betray knowingly your Amánát (things entrusted to you, and all the duties which Alláh has ordained for you). And know that your possessions and your children are but a trial and that surely, with Allah is a mighty reward.” (8:27,28)
O you who believe! The trust you are entrusted with is not an easy matter. It is the religion, the responsibility of safeguarding it, the methodology and the way. It is a heavy burden and a great responsibility. It was offered to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, yet, despite their high strength and durability, they declined to bear it and were afraid of its consequences. Instead you, man, have bore it for the reasoning and understanding that Allah(swt) has created in you, and the knowledge, revelation and guidance He has made available to you. With the reasoning and understanding you may recognize things and with the revelation and knowledge you may be guided and shown the right way. For this you were qualified to endure and fulfill the responsibilities of this trust. Therefore you must attend to the responsibilities of the ‘trust’ you bore completely and perfectly, so as to please your Lord and achieve the piety of your society. However, if you fail to keep it, the whole society shall suffer a great destruction in its body and disintegration in its ties.
O Muslims! In order to protect and safeguard this trust, Allah(swt) has prohibited every cause leading to its ruin or even its partial loss. He therefore prohibited the practice of bribery, which is to give money to someone or forgive him from his dues for the purpose of accomplishing an unlawful gain. Allah(swt) says:
“And eat up not one another’s property unjustly (in any illegal way, e.g. stealing, robbing, deceiving), nor give bribery to the rulers (judges before presenting your cases) that you may knowingly eat up a part of the property of others sinfully.” (2:188)
Condemning the Jews, Alláh(swt) says:
“(They like to) listen to falsehood, to devour anything forbidden.” (5:42)
Bribery is a form of Suhut (possessing something by a forbidden way) as was explained by Ibn Masud and others. Ibn Umar narrated that the Messenger of Allah(pbuh) had cursed the briber and the one bribed. In different wording the Hadith says that the Messenger of Allah(pbuh) said:
“The curse of Allah shall be upon briber and the bribed.”
This Hadith could be a statement by the Prophet(pbuh) (as stated directly in this translation) or an invocation against them to be expelled from the mercy of Allah(swt) as Satan was cursed, hence expelled from the mercy of Allah(swt). (To convey this meaning, the translation may be changed into: “May Allah curse the briber and the bribed.”)
O Muslims! The curse of Alláh and His Messenger is only deserved for doing a great evil and a detestable matter. Certainly bribery is one of the most corrupting practices on earth, for it is a form of changing Allah’s verdict, neglecting people ‘s rights, establishing fraud and ruining what is right. Bribery is a great cause of corruption in the society and a betrayal of the ‘trust’. By practicing bribery, the briber wrongs himself, for he spends his money to gain an illegal achievement. On the other hand, the bribed wrongs himself by yielding to injustice and oppression against the commandments of Allah(swt). Both of them usurp other peoples rights and take possession of prohibited property. This shall not benefit them; it shall rather harm them and thus ruin their wealth or the blessing therein.
Judges and rulers can be the target of bribery, when they tend to favor the briber in their judgement and decisions against the truth. They do so at the expense of other people ‘s rights, for the sake of benefiting themselves through bribes. The executive officials may also be targets for bribery, when they neglect carrying out orders, or even worse than that, when they deliberately cease to execute verdicts, especially a court verdict against a criminal, al! because of being bribed.
In employment, bribery has an impact in hiring someone at the expense of another who may be more entitled. For being bribed, the one in charge may pass the answers of the test, by which the employer decides who is to be hired, to the person who is only favored by bribery. A Hadith states something to that effect as the Messenger of Allah(swt) said:
“He who gives authority to aman from amongst a group, while another from the same group is more pleasing to Allah, has indeed betrayed Allah, His Messenger and the believers.” (Narrated by Al Hakim with a sound chain of narrators)
Bribery can also be involved in implementing projects. In this regard, a tender for a project is published, and one of the bidders may bribe the ones in charge, so he takes the project, despite that other bidders may be more honest and more proficient. Bribery can also be influential during conducting criminal investigations, as the investigators can be bribed to be lenient or even negligent in their investigations in favor of the culprits.
The Messenger of Allah(pbuh) said:
“Whoever amongst you is appointed by us to a position of authority for a certain salary, anything he takes beyond that shall be deemed misappropriation.” (Abu Dawud)
Al-Ghalul (misappropriation, stealing through abuse of authority) is a great sin. A man came to the Prophet(pbuh) to tell him that someone had died a martyr, but the Prophet(pbuh) said: “Nay! Be is being dragged into the Fire for a garment he stole from the spoils of war.”(Ahmed, with a sound chain of narrators)
It is worth a moment of thinking to fathom how bribery can affect the decisions of the people in charge of educating our children. With bribery, a lazy student may be given or hinted the answers for the finals, or be allowed to cheat during the exam, then pass and take the place of another student who may be better and hardworking. This occurs because the people in charge are vulnerable to the temptation of the bribe.
O servants of Alláh! You now know the punishment of the briber and the bribed in the Hereafter, which is to be ousted from the merey of Alláh, the Merciful. You also learned how corrupting bribery can be in the society. Should not this be a deterrent to every God-fearing and faithful believer who is also fearful of Alláhs punishment and caring about his religion and society, to not practice this evil? How could a man with reason strive to destroy and ruin his society? O Muslims! Actions can easily be taught and passed on from one group to another. If bribery spreads in one area of this society, it will spread quickly to all the other areas, and the one starting it will be the example for every one until the Day of Resurrection.
Fear Alláh, O servants of Alláh, and safeguard your religion and the trust you are shouldering the responsibility thereof. Think for a moment of which is better for you: to please Alláh by establishing His justice and protecting ourselves from falling in the mud of your lusts, or to be oppressors reclining to the deception of this earthly life and
subsequently being subjected to the wrath of Alláh.
I seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the outcast.
“O you who believe! Keep your duty to Alláh and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger (pbuh), he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e., he will be saved from the Hell-fire and will be admitted to Paradise). Truly, We did offer Al-Amánah (the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allah has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains,
but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allah’s Torment). But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results). So that Allah will punish the hypocrites, men and women, and the men and women who are Al-Mushrikún (polytheists, idolaters, pagans, disbelievers, in the Oneness of Alláh, and His Messenger Muhammad(pbuh)). And Allah will pardon (accept the repentance of) the true believers of the Islamic Monotheism, men and women. And Alláh is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (33:70-73)
O Allah! Guide us and protect us from the causes of ignorance and destruction! Save us from the defects of ourselves! Cause the last of our deeds to be the best and most righteous! And forgive all of us.
With this I conclude my speech and ask Allah, the Almighty and the Sublime, to forgive all of our sins. So seek his forgiveness. He is All Forgiving Most Merciful.
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John Doe
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John Doe
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