A gift for the Lecturer

Question: “I am a teacher. Some students gave me a gift of low values at their graduation. I’ve taken the gift. Am I guilty for doing it?”

A gift for the Lecturer

Answer: “It is not allowed for a teacher or lecturer to receive any gift, even though it is of low value, from his student, whoever he is. If you received it already, then the gift should be given to the office (as a property of the institute).

The best solution is for you to explain the ruling regarding this matter to the students wisely, as the Prophet did when Ash Sha’b Ibn Jatsama gave him a donkey when the Prophet was in the state of ihram. The Prophet told him wisely,

إنا لم نرده عليك إلا أنا حرم

“Indeed, we do not return this gift of yours but because we are in the ihram state.” (Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim)

The gift given by a student to his teacher or lecturer, has two statuses in law:

– It is considered as bribery, if the gift compelled the teacher to do an act in the benefit of the student who gave him the gift.
– It is considered as ghulul, or treasonous property, if the gift was given by the student because the status of whom he gave was his teacher, although it didn’t make the teacher did anything that benefits him.

Considering those statuses, a teacher should not accept any gift in any form from anyone whose status is his student.

If the gift is already received, then teacher who received it should paid back the gift with the similar or even more expensive gift than what he had received before; that’ll be fit for him. But, he isn’t supposed to receive it since the beginning.”

References:

http://www.salmajed.com/fatwa/findnum.php?arno=5155
http://www.salmajed.com/fatwa/findnum.php?arno=962

Author: Ustadz Aris Munandar, S.S., M.PI

Article of www.syaria.com

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