What is the ruling on an engineer working for an oil company taking a percentage of the profits from one of the companies bidding on a tender supervised by his company, in the following cases: 1. If he did not stipulate that, and the offer came from them? 2. If he contributed a portion of capital as a partnership with them? 3. If he agreed with them from the outset on a partnership with capital should they win the tender?

This bonus falls under the ruling of gifts to employees, which the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade, saying: "Gifts to employees are ghulul (ill-gotten gains)." This is because this gift is, in reality, a bribe intended for the position, not the person, unlike permissible gifts which are intended for the person himself. It is not permissible for the employee to enter into a partnership with them, because he profits from the company without its knowledge, and places himself in a position of accusation and suspicion that affects his trustworthiness. Therefore, one must be keen on earning a pure livelihood.