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Is what colleagues bring, such as sugar, tea, biscuits, and office supplies, considered a forbidden bribe, especially given that these items are consumed and used at work, that I did not ask for them, that I treat everyone fairly, and that the entity we work for does not provide these supplies?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

"Consuming tea, biscuits, and shared office supplies with colleagues does not fall under the category of bribery or gifts to employees, as long as you did not request them and are not singled out for them, especially if you participate in bringing them.

However, if these items are offered to you to overlook a deficiency in work, then they are considered forbidden bribery.

Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him) denounced an alms collector for accepting a gift, saying: "Why did he not sit in the house of his father or the house of his mother and see whether he would be given a gift or not?"

Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said: The hadith indicates that a gift to an employee is given to show gratitude for his good deed, or to endear oneself to him, or out of desire for his favoritism concerning the truth."

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

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