Can I Give Fake Invoices to Get a Reimbursement?

Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam

Question: Assalam alaykum

Someone is allowed lunch (daily) at a client but he does not eats lunch. Instead he prepares a fake invoice and submits to client for reimbursement. Is it wrong?

Answer: Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

Giving an invoice in lieu of undue payment is a type of impermissible deception.

“Muslims are held to their conditions,” [Abu Dawud] as the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) informed us, and “Whoever deceives us is not one of us.” [Muslim]

[Nahlawi, al-Durar al-Mubaha fi al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha]

Please also see: Welfare and Deception and: Receiving Tax Refunds Without Due Right

And Allah Most High alone knows best.

wassalam,
[Ustadh] Tabraze Azam

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Ustadh Tabraze Azam holds a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Leicester, where he also served as the President of the Islamic Society. He memorised the entire Qur’an in his hometown of Ipswich at the tender age of sixteen, and has since studied the Islamic Sciences in traditional settings in the UK, Jordan and Turkey. He is currently pursuing advanced studies in Jordan, where he is presently based with his family.