Is it permissible for a preacher to take money while preaching?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : We have differed on an issue, which is whether it is permissible for a preacher to take a fee during his preaching, relying on the hadith narrated by al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) preached to the women, and they would throw their jewelry into the garment of Bilal.
This is one of the most astonishing things: for a person to use the truth as evidence for falsehood. A preacher who preaches to people and then looks forward to them giving him money is seeking the worldly life through his work, may Allah protect us from that. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has related that the messengers, and their seal Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), used to say, "I do not ask you for any reward for this." So the messengers (peace and blessings be upon them) never take a fee for their calling to Allah and their preaching to the servants of Allah. They never take a fee for that, because the reward of the preacher is with Allah, and his reward is not the charity placed in his hand.
As for using the action of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as evidence, that is in reality using the truth as evidence for falsehood. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not take charity for himself. In fact, charity is forbidden for him. In fact, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said thatMusannaf Abd al-Razzaq 8:144. That it is the provisions of the people. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is not permitted to take obligatory charity or voluntary charity, and he does not take it for himself, but rather he takes it for the Muslim who is entitled to it. So there is a difference between this and that. If a preacher stands and preaches to people and encourages them to donate to specific causes for which donation is prescribed, then there is no harm in him taking the charity, and he will be rewarded for that. As for the one who takes it for himself, then this is a matter that he should never do. If he intended it from the very beginning of his preaching, then it is forbidden for him. And if he did not intend it, then he should not take it, even if it is given to him; because he is suspected in that, and because it may lead others to this matter.
This is one of the most astonishing things: for a person to use the truth as evidence for falsehood. A preacher who preaches to people and then looks forward to them giving him money is seeking the worldly life through his work, may Allah protect us from that. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, has related that the messengers, and their seal Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), used to say, "I do not ask you for any reward for this." So the messengers (peace and blessings be upon them) never take a fee for their calling to Allah and their preaching to the servants of Allah. They never take a fee for that, because the reward of the preacher is with Allah, and his reward is not the charity placed in his hand.
As for using the action of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) as evidence, that is in reality using the truth as evidence for falsehood. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not take charity for himself. In fact, charity is forbidden for him. In fact, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that
Charity is not lawful for the family of Muhammad
الصدقة لا تحل لآل محمد
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1406هـ - 8 — binothaimeen.net (1:15:54)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.
