Question
Reference number: 704262 | Miscellaneous | July 15, 2020
Nowadays, we are living unusual circumstances. We have been directed to e-learning. Exams are also conducted online. During the Ministry of Higher Education meetings, the representatives announced that exams are considered to be open-book exams. They announced this orally, but there is no official written letter. In some governorates, they officially announced that exams are not open book and they issued an official letter according to a meeting held in the Ministry of Higher education. Which announcement should we depend on: the oral or the written?
Answer
Praise Be to Allah and Peace Be Upon His Messenger.
If the Ministry of Higher Education issued an official letter deciding that exams are to be conducted as open-book exams, then, it is accepted to refer to the book. If this was only an oral announcement which is followed by an authentic decision which tells that exams are not to be conducted as open-book exams, then, referring to the book during doing the exam is cheating, and thus, it is haram.