Fatwa #437073 December 2019India
Fabricating information to get in to college. What do i do now?
Question
Regarding fabrication of Information during Education Application.
At the time of my application to Engineering, i had falsely used a reserved quota (reserved for low income backward society of Muslims) to secure a better seat in a better college than I would have otherwise secured, even tough I come from a well-to-do family. Since this practice is rampant in our country, it was not considered wrong by my family.
Post the Engineering, I have secured a seat in a very good college for a post graduation business Administration Degree (secured in General Quota) through a common entrance test. While the weightage for this entrance is primarily the entrance test marks and interview process (90%+ weightage is given to these), 10 % weightage is given to Graduation Marks and a measure of how good the Graduation College was.
All my jobs over th past 12 years are based on my MBA qualification and not on my Enginerring qualification.
Now, I am regretting the decision of having used falsehood to gain my Engineering degree in a better college than otherwise I would have got and troubled by the thought of whether my current livelihood is Halaal or not. Request your guidance on what I should do to ensure a Halal livelihood.
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
Brother in Islam,
It is admirable to see your concern in earning halal income.
The messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has said:
"لَيْسَ مِنَّا مَنْ غَشَّ" (ابن ماجه: 2224)
Translation: "The one who deceives is not from amongst us"
In another narration the messenger of Allah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) has also said:
"إن الصدق يهدي إلى البر، وإن البر يهدي إلى الجنة، وإن الرجل ليصدق حتى يكتب صديقا، وإن الكذب يهدي إلى الفجور، وإن الفجور يهدي إلى النار، وإن الرجل ليكذب حتى يكتب كذابا" (مسلم:2607)
Translation: " Verily truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to paradise. A man may endeavour to be truthful until he is recorded as a speaker of the truth. And Verily lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to hell. A man may endeavour to tell lies until he is recorded as a liar"
Brother, speaking lies and deceiving is a major sin. You should make sincere Tawbah and beg Allah Ta’ala for forgiveness. However, the income of the job will be halal since you are offering a valid service and receiving payment in return for that service.[i]
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mahmood Suliman
Student Darul Iftaa
Gaborone, Botswana
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
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[i] النتف (2/558)
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