What is the ruling on a gift given to a government employee by a client with whom he has a friendship and kinship, knowing that the employee helped him complete his transactions according to the regulations, and that the giver swore an oath of divorce for him to accept it? Is it permissible to use it? If not, what should he do with it? And what should the giver do about his oaths and his wife's divorce?

It is forbidden for anyone working in a public capacity for Muslims to accept gifts, because they carry the suspicion of favoritism, and because they are a form of embezzlement (ghulul) and illicit gain (suht). The evidence for this is the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "Gifts to workers are embezzlement (ghulul)," and "Gifts to the ruler are illicit gain (suht)," and the story of Ibn al-Lutbiyyah. Therefore, this gift is forbidden, and you must return it to the giver. If returning it causes him distress, then give him its equivalent value. If it is impossible to return it to its owner, then place it in the Muslim treasury (Bayt al-Mal). As for the giver's oath, some scholars have stated that a conditional divorce is not a divorce but rather an expiable oath.