Gift or Bribe?


Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) once sent somebody to
collect zakat from a certain region. When the man returned he handed
some of the zakat over and kept some for himself saying that he had
received it as a gift from the people. Allah’s Apostle then ascended
his pulpit and addressed everybody. In it he said: “I employ some men
from among you for some job which Allah has placed in my charge, and
then one of you comes to me and says, ‘This (amount) is for you and
this is a gift given to me.’ Why doesn't he stay at the house of his
father or the house of his mother and see whether he is given gifts.
By Allah whoever takes anything unlawfully will bring it on the Day of
Resurrection by carrying it over his neck.” [Bukhari]

Giving or taking bribes is at the root of corruption. Islam clearly
states that both the giver and the receiver of a bribe end up in
Jahannum (Hell). But how is one to recognize that he or she is
involved in this practice? In this hadith, Rasul Allah (sal Allahu
alaihi wa sallam) describes a simple test that each person can perform
to check themselves, when receiving favours while serving in a
particular position. They should ask themselves whether what they
receive is something they would be ‘gifted’ had they been sitting
at home, i.e. not serving in that position. If the “gift” you
receive is because of your office, so that you can use your position
to do the gift-giver a favour, then this is a misuse of authority.

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