Assalamualiakum my question is i am doing some IT certification at a training provider. . The training provider is telling us to use braindumps in conjuction with studyng for the exam and the students in my class are using these. braindumps are websites where people who have already done the exam come back and disclose the actual question that came on the exam so that other people can benefit from them. ome people just memorise without understanding the question and then go and give the exam and this is like cheating and . The exam authority has made it illegal and i think its prt of the terms and conditions of the exam. but some people use it as a study tool, and they use it in conjuction to studying the subject and they try to understand the answers. as it hard to find any book that covers all the topics a it is not guranteed that all the question will come in the exam as the exam authority may change some things.is it haram to use braindumps, if i use it to suplement my studies. will my earning be halal if i use them

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.

If the exam authority forbids the publishing of these questions, then those who take the exam must abstain from publishing them or reviewing the questions that were already published without permission, even if it is only for the sake of complementary support, because cheating on exams conflicts with the objective of the exam in the first place, which is to test the individual mental abilities of the students taking the exam.

As for earning a living by means of a certificate obtained through cheating on exams, such earnings are lawful as long as the work is done properly as required.

Shaykh Ibn Baaz was asked,

“"A man got a job because he holds a certain certificate but he had cheated on the exam for that certificate. Now he is doing the job well, according to his colleagues. What is the legal status of his salary – is it lawful or unlawful?" Bin Baaz answered, "There is no blame, Allaah Willing, but he must turn to Allaah in repentance for cheating. If he is doing the job as required, then there is no sin on him as far as his earnings are concerned, but he was wrong to cheat, and he must repent from that."” [Majmooʻ Fataawa Ibn Baaz]

For more benefit, please refer to Fatwa 81709.

Allaah Knows best.