Home
Discover Islam
Quran Recitations
Lectures
Fatwa
Articles
Fiqh
E-Books
Women
Boys & Girls 
Enter Question
View By Subject
Fatwa Of The Week
Selected Fatwa
Fatwa CenterPurchased a House with Bribe
Question
Assalam o Alaikum,I have bought a home in delhi in 2014, during the payment i used the fund which i have received through bribe or rishwat.(i have taken money from some people for using their material in my office).Now my inner voice doesn't allow me to stay in that home which i bought through bribe money and now i am also in very heavy debt.i want to sell that house and clear all my debt but my wife is not ready to sell the house, In her view bribe is not haraam.please advice me in the light of Quraan and hadith, what should i do.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
Taking a bribe is prohibited (Haraam) without any doubt, and scholars counted it among the grave major sins.
For more benefit on bribery, please refer to Fataawa 10376, 99613, 90510, 261091, and 83777.
If you took a bribe, then you must repent to Allah, The Exalted. Repentance is fulfilled by giving up the sin, regretting committing it, resolving never to commit it again in the future, and clearing your liability from the right of the person against whom the sin was committed. If those people paid the bribe in order to access a right that they are entitled to, then you are obliged to give them back their money. But if they paid it to get something that they have no right to get, then you are obliged to get rid of the money by spending it in public interests and charitable fields.
We have previously clarified that in Fatwa 309040.
You are not obliged to sell the house just because it was purchased with bribe money. The Standing Committee for Issuing Fataawa was asked the following question: "I have clothes which I bought by ill-gotten (Haraam) money, and I have confessed my sin to the money owners. Now I have no other clothes to wear. Please advise me on what to do. May Allah reward you!" The answer was as follows: "You are obliged to give the money back to its owners and ask them to forgive you. You must also resolve to sincerely repent to Allah of unlawfully devouring people’s property and transgressing against it without right. If you do that, then we do not see any reason that prevents the permissibility of using the clothes in question." [End of quote]
Hence, you may sell your house in order to repay your debts, and you may keep it in your possession. Selling it is not a requirement for the validity of your repentance.
For more benefit on the conditions of sincere repentance, please refer to Fatwa 86527.
Allah Knows best.
Search Fatwa
Fatwa Subject
