Former member of the Ifta Committee Abdullah Al-Rakban has described bribery as a major sin, “even under the guise of a gift”. “Names do not change the facts. A gift is what is given to a friend or relative or neighbor with no ulterior motive, its only goal being to do a good deed and strengthen the relationship,” Al-Rakban said. He said that all forms of bribery should be reported and also condemned “silence” in the face of such acts. Anyone involved in offering or accepting bribes, he said, should be “warned and advised” and reported if they continue. Al-Rakban also addressed persons who claim that if they do not pay bribes their dealings and paperwork would be “held up” and they would be “denied their rights”. “If you have dealings completed through bribery then you anger God and corrupt society, and offering bribes encourages persons who accept bribes to continue along that deviant path,” Al-Rakban said. The problem, according to Al-Rakban, is that “everyone wants their rights without stopping to think whether what they are doing is halal or haram”. “Any amount of money paid to an official directly or indirectly is a form of bribery and that is haram, whatever the reason for the payment,” he said. Al-Rakban cited the Prophet's Hadith – “Allah's curse be upon the bribe-giver and the bribe-taker” – and added that “bribery middlemen” are “cursed” in another Hadith. “Many societies suffer from the problem of bribery, including ours,” Al
