Question
In an engineering university lab, students are required to submit reports on experiments given during remote study. It is known that the reports requested in these labs usually require the lab instructor to provide students with specific questions and data to base their reports on. However, in this particular lab, the students were not given any questions, tables, or data to fill out and solve (due to the instructor's negligence), which requires the students a long time to complete these reports. Consequently, due to one student's busy work schedule and lack of sufficient time to solve such reports, he asked a classmate in this lab to solve these reports on his behalf for a monetary compensation, knowing that these reports do not determine the student's pass or fail status in this lab. Is this permissible? And is this monetary compensation considered halal or haram?
Answer
I say, and with God's success: It is not permissible for the student to engage in this behavior; it is treachery, lying, and deception, and it contradicts the scientific integrity of a Muslim. Therefore, he must prepare the reports himself, and it is forbidden for another student to do this work for him, and what he earns from his money will be impure. And God knows best.