What Is the Ruling on Accepting a Scholarship Based on Improper Academic Assistance?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

What is the ruling on accepting a scholarship when one has cheated in an exam, but believes that even without that improper assistance, one would still have passed and qualified for the scholarship? Is it necessary to inform the institution?

Answer

I pray you are well.

You must inform them.

Even if a person believes that they would have passed without the improper assistance, and even if the marks obtained were well above the minimum required for the scholarship, it is still necessary to disclose what occurred.

For example, even if someone achieved 99 percent and the scholarship requirement was 90 percent, and they believe that without cheating, they would have achieved 93 percent, they must still inform the institution. The issue is not limited to whether the minimum academic requirement would have been met.

Honesty and Integrity as Core Factors

There are multiple factors involved in awarding scholarships. Academic performance is not the only consideration. Honesty and integrity are also factors that institutions look for.

If a person used improper means, whether through unauthorized assistance, artificial intelligence, or any other method, to obtain answers and cheat, then they must disclose this. Failing to do so and taking the scholarship money would be impermissible. There would be a serious problem in accepting that money without clarification.

One should go and inform the institution. Even if there was an initial lapse in judgment, the honesty shown afterward may be taken into account. However, it is not permissible to take the money while concealing the truth.

If someone believes they would have passed regardless, that should have been demonstrated by doing the exam honestly in the first place.

The Obligation of Truthfulness

As believers, we are required to do our best to be honest. Deception and treachery are extremely serious matters. Just as dishonesty in trade and transactions is blameworthy, lying in situations such as this is also very serious.

Lying makes other sins easier for a person. Over time, one no longer views the consequences of sin as serious.

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

“Lying leads to all forms of wickedness, and wickedness leads to the Fire. A person continues to lie until they are written with Allah as a liar.” [Bukhari]

This is something we do not want in our lives.

Rather, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) also said:

“Truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise.” [Ibid.]

Righteousness here refers to complete sincerity to Allah in all forms of good. When a person commits to speaking the truth, the doors of goodness open. If one forces oneself to be truthful, it will transform one over time.

A person continues to tell the truth until they are written with Allah as a truthful one, a siddiq, a rank from among the highest stations of the righteous.

For this reason, one should neither continue with the lie nor accept the scholarship money under false pretenses.

May Allah protect us all.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr. Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr. Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.