Likewise, when people of influence (1) shield someone from having a prescribed punishment carried out upon him—for example, when one of the peasants commits a crime, then takes refuge in a village belonging to the sultan’s deputy or to an emir (2), thereby claiming immunity from the law of Allah and His Messenger—the person who shelters him is among those cursed by Allah and His Messenger. Muslim narrated in his Sahīh (3) from Alī ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Allah curses anyone who commits an offense or shelters an offender.” Thus, whoever shelters an offender from among these offenders is cursed by Allah and His Messenger.

If the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever’s intercession obstructs one of Allah’s prescribed punishments has opposed Allah in His command” (4), then what of someone who prevents the prescribed punishments by his own power and hand, and accepts, from (5) the criminals, illicit wealth in return?! This is especially the case with prescribed punishments for those who dwell in the open country, for one of the greatest sources of corruption among them is shielding their wrongdoers through influence or money. Whether the money taken is for the state treasury or for the governor, secretly or openly, all of it is forbidden by Muslim consensus. It is comparable to tax-farming taverns and the wine trade (6), for whoever enables this or assists someone in it for money that he takes—they (7) are all of one kind.

Money taken on this basis resembles what is received as a prostitute’s fee and the fee of