What is the ruling on setting a fee for acts of devotion, such as ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation) and teaching the Qur'an?
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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, he says: What is the ruling on taking a fee for acts of devotion, such as ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation) and teaching the Qur'an, where one specifies his fee before beginning the work?
Answer:
Taking a fee for teaching the memorization of the Qur'an and teaching knowledge is permissible; there is nothing wrong with it. Taking a fee for ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation) is also permissible, as evidenced by the hadith of the man who was bitten by a snake. The people of the Arab tribe came to the Companions and asked them if they had a healer.
They said, "Yes, but you have not hosted us, so we will not heal him except for a fee." They agreed with them on a flock of sheep. One of the Companions came and recited Surat al-Fatihah over him, and he rose up as if untied from a rope.
May Allah heal him. The people led the flock to the Companions, and they took it to al-Madinah. They informed the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "The most deserving thing for which you took a fee is the Book of Allah." Teaching and ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation)—teaching knowledge is fine. Teaching now is done for salaries: teaching Islamic jurisprudence, teaching the adhan (the call to prayer) and leading the prayer, and judging. All of this is paid from the public treasury. There is no salary except for this, and there is nothing wrong with it. Yes.
But taking a fee for the prayer or for fasting or for... this is not permissible. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, he says: What is the ruling on taking a fee for acts of devotion, such as ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation) and teaching the Qur'an, where one specifies his fee before beginning the work?
Answer:
Taking a fee for teaching the memorization of the Qur'an and teaching knowledge is permissible; there is nothing wrong with it. Taking a fee for ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation) is also permissible, as evidenced by the hadith of the man who was bitten by a snake. The people of the Arab tribe came to the Companions and asked them if they had a healer.
They said, "Yes, but you have not hosted us, so we will not heal him except for a fee." They agreed with them on a flock of sheep. One of the Companions came and recited Surat al-Fatihah over him, and he rose up as if untied from a rope.
May Allah heal him. The people led the flock to the Companions, and they took it to al-Madinah. They informed the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and said, "The most deserving thing for which you took a fee is the Book of Allah." Teaching and ruqyah (healing by Qur'anic recitation)—teaching knowledge is fine. Teaching now is done for salaries: teaching Islamic jurisprudence, teaching the adhan (the call to prayer) and leading the prayer, and judging. All of this is paid from the public treasury. There is no salary except for this, and there is nothing wrong with it. Yes.
But taking a fee for the prayer or for fasting or for... this is not permissible. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1914 -3022] ما حكم تحديد أجرة على أعمال القربات كالرقية وتدريس القرآن؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
