Just as Islam forbids earning a livelihood through such means as interest, black marketeering and fraudulent manufacturing, it also forbids profiting from bribery, declaring it unlawful.
Bribery, one of the most blatant forms of violating individual and collective rights, is a grave crime that undermines public morality, social trust and social justice, bringing personal degradation and social anarchy. It is an immense sin that paves the way for disaster in the Hereafter.
In verse 188 of Surah Al-Baqarah, our Almighty Lord declares:
(O You Who Believe!) Do not consume one another’s wealth (through interest, deception, black marketeering, gambling and fornication) by false/unlawful means. (Knowing that you are acting unjustly,) do not use that wealth to bribe judges and administrators in order to consume a portion of the wealth of individuals and society through sin.
A bribe is generally given to misappropriate something to which an individual or society is entitled. It is taken by administrators and judges who can facilitate such injustice. That is why the aforementioned verse prohibiting bribery specifically commands that judges and administrators must not be bribed.
Our Prophet declared that every form of bribery, which leads individuals away from the Truth and spreads corruption throughout society, is forbidden. He also drew particular attention to bribery in administrative and judicial bodies.
Our noble Prophet says:
“May Allah curse the one who takes a bribe, the one who gives it and the one who acts as an intermediary.”
“May Allah’s curse be upon those who give and take bribes to wrong someone who is in the right.”
“Know full well that both the one who takes a bribe and the one who gives it are in Hell.” (Müntehab-ü Kenzü’l-Ummal, 2/198-200; et-Tac, 3/56)
Bribery, which is becoming increasingly widespread in our country and throughout the world, is less a disease arising from economic necessity than an individual and social disease born of, and nurtured by, a crisis of faith and morality. Its international reach is the clearest illustration of this.
It is an evident truth that poverty is a serious factor that eats away at faith, creates the conditions for social crises and fosters moral ills.
Islam, too, has acknowledged this reality. It has laid down individual and social laws to resolve the problem of poverty and remedy its harmful effects.
Yet, considering the conditions in our country, the truth is that bribery arises more from weakness in faith and morality than from material necessity, and is fuelled by a desire to spend on luxuries.
It is precisely because bribery and similar moral ills do not have material causes that neither improving economic conditions nor the enactment of laws imposing worldly penalties has been able to prevent bribery.
That is why Islam approaches the matter from the perspective of faith and morality. By educating the believer’s mind and heart, it builds immunity to this disease. Nevertheless, Islamic law also provides for worldly penalties for bribery, with discretion left to the Islamic government and the judiciary.
To protect people from the sin of this crime, for which even repentance is not accepted by Allah unless the property taken as a bribe is returned, our Prophet placed great emphasis on this subject, offering warnings and guidance.
Since the economy of the Islamic State of Medina was based on agriculture and animal husbandry, and officials appointed to collect zakat could encounter bribery in these two fields, our Prophet said the following in an address on the gravity of misappropriating what “rightfully belongs to others” through bribery and similar means:
“(O Believers!) Let me not find any of you coming before Allah on the Day of Judgment with the animals you misappropriated—camels, horses, cattle and sheep—making their own distinctive sounds, and the child you stole crying out, all loaded onto your neck.
Then that person will (groan and) say, ‘Help me, O Messenger of Allah!’ and I will say, ‘I cannot spare you Allah’s punishment. I had conveyed this truth to you.’” (et-Tac, 3/54. The hadith has been abridged.)
***
How momentous is the Day of the Hereafter, when everyone will flee even from their mother, father, sibling and spouse, fearing that they may make claims against them. How painful and terrible it is for a believer who believes in this Great Day to be humiliated before Allah for having misappropriated what belongs to others through bribery and similar means, to be rejected by our Prophet, to whom they turn in the hope of intercession, and to be cast into the torment of Hell.
Bribery, which sound reason also condemns because it violates individual and collective rights and causes social injustice, is given and taken under the guise of “gifts,” particularly in societies where legal penalties restrain it.
Naturally, committing this sin in a different guise does not make it legitimate.
In itself, a gift is a lawful form of sustenance that, as the hadiths of our beloved Prophet explain, increases one’s sustenance, nurtures mutual affection, dispels resentment and hurt feelings, and brings people together. That is why we believers have been encouraged to exchange gifts.
Yet our religion forbids administrators, officials in positions of authority and judges from accepting the very gifts it encourages. In a hadith, our Prophet said:
“For administrators to accept gifts is forbidden, and for judges to accept gifts is disbelief (a sin approaching disbelief).” (M. K. Ummal, 2/198)
Those holding these positions may accept gifts only from people with whom they exchanged gifts before their appointment. For the purpose of a gift given after they take office, as with a bribe, is to make them instruments of injustice and tools for advancing private interests, now or in the future. Thus, although such a transaction looks like a gift, in reality it is a bribe and is forbidden.
The following incident from the Age of Felicity and the Prophet’s comments on it shed light on this matter.
Our Prophet appointed a man named İbnü’l-Lutbiyye as a zakat collector. On returning from his assignment, this man set aside some property for himself, saying, “This property is yours; it is the zakat given for the public treasury. And this property was given to me as gifts.” Thereupon, our Prophet ascended the pulpit and, after praising and glorifying Allah, said:
“What is the matter with the official I sent, that he says, ‘These were given to the treasury of the Islamic State, and these were given to me as gifts’?
Why did he not sit at his parents’ home and wait to see whether he would be given gifts?
I swear by Allah, in whose power is Muhammed’s soul, that any of you who steals a camel, cow or sheep from zakat property (or secretly takes it from public property, such as that of the treasury, municipalities and charitable endowments) will surely come before Allah on the Day of Judgment with it loaded onto his neck, the camel bellowing, the cow lowing or the sheep bleating.” (et-Tac, 3/54)
Let us conclude by drawing on the views of Islamic scholars to answer the frequently asked question: “Is the giver of a bribe as sinful as the taker?”
Our Prophet cursed not only the taker and giver of a bribe but also the intermediary. For this reason, some Islamic scholars say, “Whatever the circumstances, giving a bribe is as sinful as taking one.”
The majority of Islamic scholars, however, have assessed the giver according to the reason and purpose for giving the bribe. Accordingly, if a person is compelled to pay a bribe to protect their rights and ward off injustice and harm, they are blameless before Allah. But a bribe given to annul a right, misappropriate what belongs to others or obtain a ruling in one’s favour is forbidden. It is also grounds for punishment for the giver. (et-Tac, 3/56)
I ask my Almighty Lord to protect us all from forbidden and doubtful dealings, and leave the final word to our Prophet. He says:
“A body nourished by illicit gain/bribery deserves the Fire.” (M. K. Ummal, 2/200)
Ali Rıza Demircan
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