Imam Ahmad and Abu Dāwūd—the latter in his Sunan—narrated from Abū Umāmah al-Bāhilī (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever intercedes on behalf of his brother, who then gives him a gift for it and he accepts it, has entered through one of the great gates of usury.” (1)

Ibrāhīm al-Harbī (2) narrated from Abd Allah ibn Masūd (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “Ill-gotten gain is when someone seeks to have a man’s need fulfilled, and once it has been fulfilled, the man gives him a gift and he accepts it.” (3)

He also narrated from Masrūq that he spoke to Ibn Ziyād concerning an injustice, and Ibn Ziyād redressed it. The aggrieved man then presented Masrūq with a young male slave, but he returned him and said: “I heard Ibn Masūd say: ‘Whoever relieves a Muslim of an injustice and then receives something from him (4) for doing so, whether little or much, it is ill-gotten gain.’ I said, ‘Abū Abd al-Rahmān, we thought that ill-gotten gain referred only to bribery in judicial rulings.’ He replied, ‘That is disbelief.’” (5)