The briber only gives a bribe so that the official will judge by other than the truth or withhold judgment from him, and that is among the greatest injustices. Masruq said: I asked Ibn Mas'ud about 'suht' (illicit gain), is it the bribe in judgment? He said: No, {And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed - then it is those who are the disbelievers} (12), {the wrongdoers} (12), and {the defiantly disobedient} (12). Rather, 'suht' is for a man to seek your assistance in an injustice, and then he gives you a gift, so do not accept it (13). Qatada said: Ka'b said: Bribery makes the patient person foolish and blinds the eye of the wise. As for the one who gives the bribe, if he bribes him to judge for him with falsehood or to repel a right from him, then he is cursed. But if he bribes him to repel an injustice from himself or to fulfill his due obligation, then Ata, Jabir ibn Zayd, and al-Hasan have said: There is no harm in seeking to protect oneself through such means. Jabir ibn Zayd said: We did not see anything in the time of Ziyad (14) more beneficial for us than bribery. This is because he is salvaging his wealth just as a man salvages his captive. If the judge takes a bribe or accepts a gift he is not permitted to accept, he must return it to its owners because he took it (15) without right, so it is similar to that which is taken through an invalid contract. It is also possible that he should place it in the public treasury (bayt al-mal), because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not order Ibn al-Lutbiyya to return them to their owners. Ahmad said: If a patrician (bitriq) gives a gift of goods or silver to the commander of the army, it is not for him to the exclusion of the rest of the army. Abu Bakr said: They shall be equal in it (16).

Section: It is not appropriate for the judge to personally engage in buying and selling, based on what Abu al-Aswad al-Maliki narrated from his father, from his grandfather, that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "No ruler who engages in trade with his subjects has ever acted justly" (17). Furthermore, because he is known, people might favor him, so it becomes like a gift, and because that distracts him from looking into the affairs of the people. It is narrated from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, that when he was given the pledge of allegiance, he took his garments and headed to the market. They said: O Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, you cannot afford to be distracted from the affairs of the Muslims. He said: But I cannot leave my family to be lost. They said: We will allocate for you what is sufficient for you. So they allocated two dirhams for him every day (18). If he buys and sells, the sale is valid because the sale was completed with its conditions and pillars. And if he needs...