Receiving gifts for sending patients

26-2-2002 | IslamWeb

Question:

What do you think about a doctor who gives gifts to another doctor to send him more patients? Is this bribery or what? Is it Halal or Haram.

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Answer:

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the World; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions.

If such gifts, that are sent by some doctor, make a receiving doctor send him a patient although the latter knows that there is another doctor who is more beneficial to the patient or the patient's state needs no such reference or the doctor who sends gifts is not so competent to treat the patient's present state, then such gifts are Haram.
Such a state is a form of bribery and taking the others' right. In this vein, the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said: "Allah has cursed a briber and bribee". [Ibn Majah, Ahmad and others].
But, if such gifts were free from all the above-mentioned negative aspects and were no more than a reward for co-operation, then there is no blame on both sides, Insha Allah. However, it is better to stop such dealings lest might lead to what is Haram.
Allah Says (interpretation of meaning): {…Help you one another in Al­Birr and At­Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression…}[5:2].
Allah knows best.