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Is money earned by an individual acting as an intermediary to complete a government transaction in exchange for a fee, which is then shared with another party who completed the transaction by utilizing their connections, permissible or impermissible (halal or haram)?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If what is paid is for effort, work, and time expended, then there is no harm in it, because agency (wakalah) is permissible for a fee. However, if it is merely mediation and intercession, then it is not permissible, due to the Prophet's (peace be upon him) saying: "Whoever intercedes for his brother with an intercession, and he (the brother) gives him a gift and he accepts it, then he has approached a great door from the doors of usury (riba)."

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

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