What Should I Do After Having Cheated in My Online Exams?
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Question
I am a University student, and I have cheated in two of my online exams in the past two years.
I had many ongoing mental health issues. I have not gone back to University and intend to go next year.
However, I know I have done wrong, and gaining a degree through my actions is not what I want to do as I will be earning haram sustenance. I need advice.
I am considering speaking to the program lead of my course about my actions and would be willing to accept any penalty possible. I’m unsure whether this will make my record clean in terms of earning halal, so please advise me.
Also, I would be grateful if there is anything else you can suggest.
Answer
I hope you’re doing well, insha’Allah.
Cheating is never justified in Islam and is sinful for a Muslim. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) warned against cheating.
After all, we ask Allah in every cycle of the prayer—when we recite Surat al-Fatiha—to, “Guide us to the Upright Path.” This is the path of truthfulness in words and actions.
See:
- Is It Permissible To Use My Degree Which I Received by Cheating?
- I Have Lied in Job Interviews. Are My Earnings Permissible?
- Is There an Expiation (Kaffara) for Cheating on an Exam?
- What Should I Do After Cheating on a Quran Memorization Test?
And Allah is the giver of success and facilitation.
[Shaykh] Faraz Rabbani
Shaykh Faraz Rabbani spent ten years studying with some of the leading scholars of recent times, first in Damascus, and then in Amman, Jordan. His teachers include the foremost theologian of recent times in Damascus, the late Shaykh Adib al-Kallas (may Allah have mercy on him), as well as his student Shaykh Hassan al-Hindi, one of the leading Hanafi fuqaha of the present age. He returned to Canada in 2007, where he founded SeekersGuidance in order to meet the urgent need to spread Islamic knowledge–both online and on the ground–in a reliable, relevant, inspiring, and accessible manner. He is the author of: Absolute Essentials of Islam: Faith, Prayer, and the Path of Salvation According to the Hanafi School (White Thread Press, 2004.) Since 2011, Shaykh Faraz has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center.
