Fatwa No : 96542
Having compelled to pay a bribe for a lawful matter.

Having compelled to pay a bribe for a lawful matter.

I own a pharmaceutical company that manufactures various medicines and health supplements. In order to manufacture any new brand or product, it is mandatory to obtain registration and approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).
For this purpose, we prepare a complete dossier and submit it to the relevant department. The dossier is then presented before the appropriate committee or meeting, and if it is approved, we are granted the registration/license for that brand. Only after obtaining this approval are we legally permitted to manufacture and market the product.
In our industry, many companies pay bribes ranging from PKR 10,000 to 15,000 to certain DRAP officials. As a result, no deficiencies are raised on their dossiers, and their approvals are processed quickly. By the grace of Allah, we have never paid a bribe to anyone.
However, we frequently find that various deficiencies are raised on our dossiers, preventing us from obtaining the required approval. Recently, we submitted 51 dossiers. This time, all of them were prepared by a highly experienced senior consultant, and to the best of our knowledge, they contained no errors or deficiencies whatsoever. Nevertheless, every single one of the 51 dossiers was returned with different deficiencies.
In this context, I would like to ask: if a person pays such an amount solely to obtain his lawful legal right and to avoid unnecessary obstacles or baseless objections, what is the ruling under Islamic law? Once the registration is granted, the company manufactures the product and earns income from it.
Some people argue that because the company later earns revenue from the registered brand, such a payment also constitutes bribery and renders the resulting income unlawful (haram). Others maintain that if the sole purpose is to obtain one's legitimate right while the relevant authorities are creating unjustified obstacles, then the ruling may be different.
Kindly provide guidance, in the light of the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and Hanafi jurisprudence, on the following questions:
1. Is paying such an amount permissible or impermissible under Islamic law?
2. If the payer's only intention is to obtain his legitimate legal right, what is the ruling?
3. In such a situation, is there any difference in the ruling between the person who gives the money and the person who receives it?
4. What is the ruling regarding the business income earned from the registered product after such a payment has been made?
Jazakum Allahu Khayra

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

Let it be clear that bribery is illegal and forbidden in Islamic law. In the Hadith, both the giver and the receiver of bribery are cursed, so it is obligatory for the petitioner to completely avoid bribery in their dealings as much as possible.
However, if for registering a new brand or product, the petitioner has fulfilled all legal requirements, but the relevant authorities do not approve the application without an unjustified bribe, and the petitioner has no effective or legal alternative to obtain their legitimate right or get the application approved, then in such a case of compulsion, giving a bribe just to obtain one's right would be permissible. Still, the person receiving the bribe would be taking the money unlawfully and it would be forbidden.
If the petitioner, under this compulsion, gives a bribe to get approval for a brand or product, and then produces a legally permissible and halal product and carries out business with it, the income earned from this lawful business will be considered halal according to Sharia.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

کما فی المرقاۃ شرح المشکاۃ:
"(وعن عبد الله بن عمرو رضي الله عنهما) : بالواو (قال: «لعن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الراشي والمرتشي» ) : أي: معطي الرشوة وآخذها، وهي الوصلة إلى الحاجة بالمصانعة، وأصله من الرشاء الذي يتوصل به إلى الماء، قيل: الرشوة ما يعطى لإبطال حق، أو لإحقاق باطل، أما إذا أعطى ليتوصل به إلى حق، أو ليدفع به عن نفسه ظلماً فلا بأس به، وكذا الآخذ إذا أخذ ليسعى في إصابة صاحب الحق فلا بأس به، لكن هذا ينبغي أن يكون في غير القضاة والولاة؛ لأن السعي في إصابة الحق إلى مستحقه، ودفع الظالم عن المظلوم واجب عليهم، فلايجوز لهم الأخذ عليه".
(کتاب الأمارة والقضاء، باب رزق الولاة وهدایاهم، الفصل الثاني،ج:۷ ؍۲۹۵ ،ط:دارالکتب العلمیة)
و فی رد المحتار: وفي الفتح: ثم الرشوة أربعة أقسام: منها ما هو حرام على الآخذ والمعطي وهو الرشوة على تقليد القضاء والإمارة. الثاني: ارتشاء القاضي ليحكم وهو كذلك ولو القضاء بحق؛ لأنه واجب عليه. الثالث: أخذ المال ليسوي أمره عند السلطان دفعا للضرر أو جلبا للنفع وهو حرام على الآخذ فقط الخ (کتاب القضاء، ج: 5، ص: 362، ط: سعید)۔