Fines imposed on students by schools and colleges. What is the Islamic view on this matter?

Question:

Fines imposed on students by schools and colleges. What is the Islamic view on this matter?

Answer:

If these fines are issued from a person who is in authority over the students or are based on a permission from a person who has such an authority in order to achieve a benefit for the students or oblige them to attend the school, then some scholars, like IbnTaymiyyah, Ibn Al-Qayyim and IbnBaaz permitted it. For instance, IbnTaymiyyah said: "Reprimanding by imposing fines or inflicting a loss in someone's wealth, property or possession, is permissible in some cases according to the well known opinion of the Maaliki School of jurisprudence, and the view of the School of jurisprudence of Ahmad without any difference of opinion in some issues, and with a difference of opinion in some other issues [that he has not said so], and it is also the view of the Shaafi'ee School of jurisprudence in one opinion, even if they disagreed about some details as confirmed by the Sunnah of the Prophet in regard to depriving a person from what he hunted in the Haram of Al-Madeenah. This is exactly like him ordering to break the large jugs of intoxicants, and like him ordering 'AbdullaahIbn 'Umar to burn the two garments died with saffron, whereby Ibn 'Umar asked the Prophet said: "Shall I wash them?", the Prophet replied: "No, rather you must burn them."

Therefore, all these issues and similar ones are true and well known to the scholars … and it is not confirmed that the Prophet has absolutely forbidden all kinds of fines, rather the four rightly guided caliphs and great companions applied this after the Prophet's death, and this is evidence that they are not abrogated.

IbnBaaz when commenting on the statement of IbnHajar in regard to the abrogation of the narrations about fines or inflicting valuable losses to a person, said: "The authoritative view of IbnHajar that the narrations have been abrogated is not good, rather, the correct opinion is that they are not abrogated for the existence of much appropriate evidence in this regard."

However, if such fines are not issued from a person who is in authority or are not based on a permission from a person who has such an authority, nor based on a pre-condition, then they are not permissible. In this case, a person who avoids them is not sinful, but if they are taken from him forcefully, then he is not to be blamed and not sinful as well.

All answers were prepared, checked, and approved by a committee of specialists, which comprises a group of licentiate graduates from the Islamic University, Al-Imaam Muhammad Bin Sa’oud Islamic University in Saudi Arabia, and graduates who studied Islamic sciences from scholars at Mosques and other Islamic educational institues in Yemen and Mauritania. This special committee is headed by Dr. ‘Abdullaah Al-Faqeeh, specialist in Jurisprudence and Arabic language. –www.islamweb.net-