The ruling on appointing another person to clean the mosque

Question:
A man who works as the mosque cleaner and receives a salary asks: Is it permissible for him to appoint another person to clean the mosque at the end of the month and give him a portion of the money?

Answer:
It is not permissible for him to do so, because this is a phenomenon among those who exploit the mosques. The imam does this, and some imams do this as well. The imam takes the position of leading the prayer, then he is absent and appoints the cleaner or someone else to pray on his behalf, and he does not attend except once a week to prove his presence. This is forbidden. Is it not permissible? Yes. It is permissible for the imam to be absent to maintain the mosque if he has an excuse. However, if he is absent, he appoints someone to perform the work in his place because he is excused by the Shari'ah in this. As for the one who does this intentionally out of laziness and does not perform the work, but rather his intention is to take the salary and give a small portion of it to the one who takes his place

The presenter:
May Allah reward you. Honorable Shaykh