Bribing to stay permanently in a Muslim country

2-9-2007 | IslamWeb

Question:

as salaamu alaykum wa rahmantullah! since maing hijrah from the west to a Islamic country it has been a blessing. I have learned that in order to stay permanently in this country I may have to pay a bribe. this is troublesome to say the least. I want to follow all laws of my adopted country and live in a halal way. and if the police ask for this bribe in order to keep my family intact would it be considered haram to pay it ? Since my wife is a national and citizen of this country and wouldn't have to suffer the fate of being forced to leave but if I don't pay it, I would have to leave since my visa is coming to an end. I don't want to forced to break up my family. please advise

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

 

Bribery is one of the major grave sins, therefore, it is not permissible for a Muslim to pay it unless it is the only way to get his right or repel an injustice; we have already clarified this in Fatwa 83777.

However, a Muslim should not claim to be in need of bribing for any minor reason, rather he should look for a permissible way to achieve his objective. Then, if he endeavours to do this by permissible means but he is unsuccessful, and he fears harm on himself, and was forced to bribe, then he may pay it and the sin will be on the person who takes it.

Allaah Knows best.