Refusing to accept gifts from subordinates at work
11-10-2017 | IslamWeb
Question:
Assalaamu alaykum. Praise be to Allah, the Most Beneficent and Most Merciful. Dear Shaikh, before joining a company, I did not know one of my friends, and he is from the same same department and is my senior. I always go to him for any issue, whether it be a wordly issue or related to the religion, so we have a good relation. Whenever I go on vacation, I bring him sweets as a gift. Recently, he was promoted to manager, and I brought him sweets, as usual. However, he did not accept them and referred to the hadith of Saheeh Al-Bukhaari and Muslim regarding the collector of zakah, who said, "This is for you (i.e. the zakah), but this was gifted to me." Thereupon, the Prophet, sallallahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, ascended the pulpit and praised Allah and then said, "What is with a man that I send (to collect zakah), so he says, 'This is for you, and this was gifted to me'? Why does he not stay in his father’s or mother’s home and see if any gifts would be given to him or not? I swear by the One in Whose Hands the soul of Muhammad is, no one of you takes anything from it except that he would come on the Day of Judgment, carrying it on his neck..." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim].
So is it wrong if I give him a gift, taking this hadith into consideration? Whatever knowledge I receive from him is a gift for me. So I also like to gift him something. So please advise.
Answer:
All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
If you used to bring him gifts before he received this promotion and there is no fear of favoritism involved, then the most likely correct view – and Allah knows best – is that there is no harm in bringing him a gift after his promotion, nor in his acceptance of this gift, provided that the gift is not more than what you used to bring him before.
As-Subki 
said in his Fataawa:
“As for the gift offered with the intention of expressing affection or winning a person's heart, if the recipient was not often offered such gifts before holding a position of authority, it is prohibited to accept it. If he was often offered such gifts before holding this position, he should not accept anything beyond the average gifts that were normally offered to him earlier. If the gift-giver is involved in a dispute, it is impermissible for the official to accept his gift (probably presented to influence his judgment or give the gift-giver preference over others). If there is no dispute involved, it is allowed to offer the official a gift proportional to the average gifts that were normally offered to him before holding his position, and it is better for the official to not accept it...”
Hence, you come to know that he did well by refusing to accept the gift, and it is better that you avoid bringing him gifts.
Allah knows best.