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How do you permit paying a bribe when it is a source of injustice? Is it permissible to repel injustice with money? And why do you not permit sexual activity to ward off harm from oneself, provided precautions are taken to prevent pregnancy?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Bribery is a grave sin (one of the kaba'ir) and forbidden because it involves unlawfully consuming people's wealth. Allah Almighty condemned the Jews for consuming usury and bribery. If bribery becomes widespread, the rights of the poor and the disabled will be lost. Some scholars have permitted paying a bribe to attain a right or avert harm in cases of extreme necessity.

As for adultery (zina), the inability of an unmarried person to marry does not justify committing this abomination. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, guided those who could not marry to fast, because the harm of adultery is greater than the harm of not marrying.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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