Answer
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
In this fatwa:
1- Scholars expanded the term ‘bribery’ to include those who pay others to claim their rights or defend themselves, their honor, or the honor of others.
2- By accepting bribery, one consumes and provides for those in his care with unlawful gains.
Answering your question, Dar Al-Ifta Al-Misriyyah, states:
Imam Al-Fayumi mentions in Al-Musbah al-Munir that:
“Bribery is defined as what a person gives to a ruler or someone else to rule in his favor or to influence him to act in one’s interests.”
All religions prohibited bribery. All positive laws consider bribery an unlawful source of income. Bribery is a religious and worldly affliction whose prevalence indicates the spread of corruption.
Islam leaves no doubt that all forms of bribery are unlawful if the conditions and elements underlying its prohibition exist. God Almighty says, {And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in order that [they might aid] you [to] consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know [it is unlawful].} (Al-Baqarah 2:188)
Hadiths prohibiting bribery
Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “God curses those who give bribes and those who accept them.” (Ibn Majah and Abu Dawud)
A curse from God or His Prophet points to the enormity of the sin. The recipient of a bribe deprives himself of the blessing of having his prayers answered.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said, “Allah the Almighty is Good and accepts only that which is good. And verily Allah has commanded the believers to do that which He has commanded the Messengers.
So, Allah said: {O Messengers! Eat of the tayyibat [all kinds of halal (legal) foods], and perform righteous deeds.} (Al-Mu’minun 23:51). And the Almighty has said: {O you who believe! Eat of the lawful things that We have provided you.} (Al-Baqarah 2:172) Then he (PBUH) mentioned [the case] of a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty, and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying “O Lord! O Lord!,” while his food is haram (unlawful), his drink is haram, his clothing is haram, and he has been nourished with haram, so how can [his supplication] be answered? (Muslim)
By accepting bribes, one consumes and provides for those in his care with unlawful gains. The Prophet (PBUH) said, “He who feeds with unlawful gains will not enter paradise.” (At-Tabarani)
The scope of bribery
Jurists have expanded the term ‘bribery’ to include those who pay others to claim their rights or defend themselves, their honor, or the honor of others. But they confined the prohibition to the recipient only and laid down strict conditions and restrictions:
1- A person must first seek the aid and assistance of anyone he deems capable of helping him and preventing injustice.
2- If he cannot find such a person, then he is considered compelled to undertake the lesser of the two evils to ward off the greater and thus secure his rights or those of another. The sin falls only upon the recipient and not on the one offering the bribe.
Imam As-Suyuti mentioned in Al-Ashbah wal Nazha’ir fi Qawa`id Fiqh al-Imam al-Shafi`i, rule no. 27: What is prohibited to take is prohibited to give. He, however, excludes some forms of bribery such as bribing a ruler to procure one’s rights.
Imam Ibn Nujaym, a Hanafi scholar, maintains the same opinion. Ibn Abdin in his commentary on Al-Ashbah and Abd al-Ghany al-Napulsi in Tahqiq al-Qadiyya fi al-Farq bayn al-Rashwa wal Hadiyyah took the same position. This consensus among the four schools of jurisprudence achieves the principle of “undertaking the lesser harm”.
Almighty Allah knows best.
Source: Egypt’s Dar Al-Ifta