Is Scholarship Money Halal If I Cheated on the Aptitude Test?
Shafi'i Fiqh
Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Question
I used my phone to search for answers during the online aptitude test for a postgraduate scholarship, though it was meant to be done independently. I regret it. If I pass the interview and receive the scholarship, will the money be halal for me? Does it depend on whether I genuinely meet the academic requirements?
Summary Answer
If the foundation gives you the scholarship believing your test result was your own, the money is unlawful for you to take, and it does not become yours, even if you would have qualified without cheating. It only becomes lawful once the foundation knows what happened and still chooses to award it to you. Repenting now means not carrying the deception into the interview and the award.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate.
Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,
Your regret is where the way back begins, and it is a blessing that you asked first, before engaging further.
In the Shafiʿi school, if the foundation awards you the scholarship believing the test result was your own, taking the money is unlawful for you, even if you would have qualified anyway.
Looking Up Answers Was Cheating
The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever cheats us is not of us.” [Muslim] The test was meant to measure your own ability, so searching your phone for answers was cheating (ghishsh), as you already know.
A Scholarship Is Given for Who They Think You Are
A scholarship is a gift (tabarruʿ). The foundation gives it freely because of qualities it believes you have, and the aptitude test is exactly how it judges those qualities. Our scholars speak to this case directly.
Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (Allah have mercy on him) says that if someone is given something for a quality people assume he has, such as poverty, righteousness, or lineage, and in reality he does not have it, taking it is forbidden in every case. This holds when the circumstances show that this was the reason, or when the giver says so. The same goes, he says, for someone with a hidden trait that would stop the giver from giving if he knew of it, and this applies to gifts, bequests, endowments, and vows as well. [Ibn Hajar, Tuhfat al-Muhtaj] And wherever taking is forbidden, he adds, the taker does not own what he took, because its owner never agreed to give it to him. [Ibid.]
Imam Ramli (Allah have mercy on him) says the same, counts knowledge among these qualities, and confirms that the taker does not own what he receives. [Ramli, Nihayat al-Muhtaj] Allah Most High says, “O believers! Do not devour one another’s wealth illegally, but rather trade by mutual consent.” [Quran 4:29; Khattab, The Clear Quran]
Your Real Ability Does Not Change the Ruling
You may feel you really do have the ability the test was looking for. Imam Khatib al-Shirbini (Allah have mercy on him) relays from Imam Ghazali (Allah have mercy on him) that what is given for a presumed quality is unlawful unless the person actually has it. [Shirbini, Mughni al-Muhtaj] But what the foundation is relying on is that your result is your own. Having cheated on its test is exactly the kind of hidden trait Imam Ibn Hajar and Imam Ramli describe: if the foundation knew, it would not award you on that result. So while the foundation does not know, your real ability does not make the money lawful.
The way out is for the foundation to know. Imam Ramli explains that the prohibition is about misleading the giver, so someone who gives knowing the truth has not been misled. [Ramli, Nihayat al-Muhtaj] If you tell them and they still award you, the scholarship is lawful for you.
What Repentance Asks of You
Imam Nawawi (Allah have mercy on him) explains that repentance means leaving the sin, regretting it, and resolving never to go back to it. When someone else’s right is involved, you must also clear yourself of that right, and with wealth that means returning it to its owner. [Nawawi, Riyad al-Salihin]
What to Do Now
You have two honest options. Contact the foundation before the interview, tell them plainly what happened, and accept whatever they decide. Or withdraw your application. What you may not do is carry on quietly, because every step from here would rest on a result you know they would not accept.
If you ever receive scholarship money without telling them, it is not yours. Give it back to the foundation, and if any of it has been spent, that is a debt you owe them.
This will take courage. Allah Most High says, “And whoever is mindful of Allah, He will make a way out for them, and provide for them from sources they could never imagine.” [Quran 65:2–3; Khattab, The Clear Quran] A scholarship you hold with a clear conscience, or whatever door Allah opens once you choose honesty, is worth far more than one you carry with this secret for years.
And Allah Most High knows best.
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick
Related Answers
One. What Is the Ruling on Accepting a Scholarship Based on Improper Academic Assistance? — Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat: Why one must disclose to the provider, and why concealing it is impermissible even if one would have qualified.
Two. Is It Permissible To Use My Degree Which I Received by Cheating? — Shaykh Farid Dingle: The ruling on using a qualification obtained by cheating.
Three. What Should I Do After Having Cheated in My Online Exams? — Shaykh Faraz Rabbani: The way of repentance after cheating in exams.
النصوص · Source-Texts
[ابن حجر الهيتمي، تحفة المحتاج]
«وَمَنْ أُعْطِيَ لِوَصْفٍ يُظَنُّ بِهِ كَفَقْرٍ، أَوْ صَلَاحٍ، أَوْ نَسَبٍ بِأَنْ تَوَفَّرَتْ الْقَرَائِنُ أَنَّهُ إنَّمَا أُعْطِيَ بِهَذَا الْقَصْدِ، أَوْ صَرَّحَ لَهُ الْمُعْطِي بِذَلِكَ، وَهُوَ بَاطِنًا بِخِلَافِهِ حَرُمَ عَلَيْهِ الْأَخْذُ مُطْلَقًا، وَمِثْلُهُ مَا لَوْ كَانَ بِهِ وَصْفٌ بَاطِنًا لَوْ اطَّلَعَ عَلَيْهِ الْمُعْطِي لَمْ يُعْطِهِ، وَيَجْرِي ذَلِكَ فِي الْهَدِيَّةِ أَيْضًا عَلَى الْأَوْجَهِ، وَمِثْلُهَا سَائِرُ عُقُودِ التَّبَرُّعِ فِيمَا يَظْهَرُ كَهِبَةٍ وَوَصِيَّةٍ وَوَقْفٍ وَنَذْرٍ»
[المصدر نفسه]
«وَحَيْثُ حَرُمَ الْأَخْذُ لَمْ يَمْلِكْ مَا أَخَذَهُ؛ لِأَنَّ مَالِكَهُ لَمْ يَرْضَ بِبَذْلِهِ لَهُ»
[الرملي، نهاية المحتاج]
«وَمَنْ أَعْطَى لِوَصْفٍ يَظُنُّ بِهِ كَفَقْرٍ أَوْ صَلَاحٍ أَوْ نَسَبٍ أَوْ عَلِمَ وَهُوَ فِي الْبَاطِنِ بِخِلَافِهِ أَوْ كَانَ بِهِ وَصْفٌ بَاطِنًا بِحَيْثُ لَوْ عَلِمَ لَمْ يُعْطِهِ حُرِّمَ عَلَيْهِ الْأَخْذُ مُطْلَقًا … وَحَيْثُ أَعْطَاهُ عَلَى ظَنِّ صِفَةٍ وَهُوَ فِي الْبَاطِنِ بِخِلَافِهَا، وَلَوْ عَلِمَ مَا بِهِ لَمْ يُعْطِهِ لَمْ يَمْلِكْ الْآخِذُ مَا أَخَذَهُ»
[المصدر نفسه]
«لِأَنَّ الْحُرْمَةَ إنَّمَا هِيَ لِتَغْرِيرِهِ بِإِظْهَارِ الْفَاقَةِ مَنْ لَا يُعْطِيهِ لَوْ عَلِمَ غِنَاهُ، فَمَنْ عَلِمَ وَأَعْطَاهُ لَمْ يَحْصُلْ لَهُ تَغْرِيرٌ»
[النووي، رياض الصالحين]
«وإنْ كَانَتِ المَعْصِيةُ تَتَعَلقُ بآدَمِيٍّ فَشُرُوطُهَا أرْبَعَةٌ: هذِهِ الثَّلاثَةُ، وأَنْ يَبْرَأَ مِنْ حَقّ صَاحِبِها، فَإِنْ كَانَتْ مالًا أَوْ نَحْوَهُ رَدَّهُ إِلَيْه»
Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar Shaykh Taha Karaan. Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others. He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town. Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town. He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and has completed his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.
