Must I pay a bribe to a man and a woman to facilitate my mother’s pension transaction, especially since I abhor the idea of bribery and the transaction has already been completed? And would not paying affect my mother’s future receipt of her salary?

Bribery is a major sin. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, cursed the briber, the bribed, and the intermediary. It is forbidden if one uses it to obtain what is not rightfully theirs. However, if bribery is for the purpose of attaining a right or repelling an injustice, it is permissible according to the majority of scholars, and the sin falls upon the recipient of the bribe, not the giver. Therefore, if a task cannot be completed except by paying a bribe to avoid hardship or danger, there is no sin in paying it, and the sin falls upon the one who takes it.