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Fatwa CenterForgery and lying to receive government housing grant
Question
Asalamu-Alaikum, My question is about receiving Government money by lying. I live in Australia, In Australia the Government provides first home owners with a 10,000 dollars grant upon purchasing their first home. The condition of receiving this first home owners grant is that you must live in the property for 6 months upon buying it. Many Muslims here including me, received the first home owners grant and did not live in it for 6 months, instead they rented out the property for cash each month and placed their names in all the utility bills, so that if the Government checked the property they can state that they were living there and use the bills as means of proof. Muslims in Australia say that they shouldn’t pay tax on their income, so receiving this money is legitimate. Also some people who received this money wish to pay it back, however if someone admits his mistake and wants to pay it back, he is given a $500 fine. Should the Muslims who took this money by way of lying pay it back with the fine? Or is it legitimate because we pay taxes? Can you please clarify? Also my second question is that Muslims in Australia who cheat the welfare system and receive Government payments by lying, who will have rights over them on the day of Judgement? Jezek Allah Khair
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.
We have already clarified that the money earned by way of forgery and deception is unlawful and that a Muslim has to respect the terms and conditions of the country where he resides, because lawful conditions in the residence contract or any other contract that a Muslim accepts to abide by must be fulfilled; Allaah says (what means): {And fulfill [every] commitment, Indeed, the commitment is ever [that about which one will be] questioned.}[Quran 17:34] Allaah also says (what means): {O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts.}[Quran 5:1]
Moreover, a Muslim has to demonstrate his religion, abide by it, and remain steadfast on it, and he should live by its morals; as actions speak louder than words, especially in those non-Muslim countries. Please refer to Fataawa 87867 and 88631.
Therefore, it is not permissible to resort to trickery in order to take that grant while you violate the conditions for its entitlement, namely the condition of residing in the house for the mentioned period.
If someone takes that grant without right, he is obliged to give it back. The fact that the government will impose a fine of 500 dollars due to his deception does not permit him to not absolve himself of what he has taken without right. Hence, he is to give back that grant and pay the fine if he is obliged to pay it for the reasons we have clarified above that a Muslim is obliged to fulfill the terms and conditions that he accepted in the residence contract or any other permissible conditions.
The fact that taxes are taken from someone does not entitle him to take hold of public money through trickery and forgery. Taxes may be legitimate and fair, involving no injustice, when the state needs them or when they are spent on public services for citizens and a compensation [tax] is taken for that. For detailed information on taxes and the rulings on them, please refer to Fatwa 203644.
Finally, forgery, lying and consuming people’s money unlawfully are crimes committed against Allaah and against the people. By doing so, a person is sinful and is thus subject to Allaah’s punishment in the Hereafter whether he did that to Muslims or to non-Muslims.
A Muslim, especially in those non-Muslim countries, should represent his religion in the best manner and should call to Islam with his behavior and his dealings more than with his words and preaching. We warn every Muslim against being a tribulation to the non-Muslims and driving them away from Islam because of his/her bad conduct and deception and considering lying, cheating, forgery and so on as permissible.
Allaah Knows best.
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