Ruling on receiving the mosque salary while the imam is absent on some days
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The questioner: We have heard from you a method you follow when receiving the mosque salary,and she: that you deduct the salary for the time you are absent and do not lead the people in prayer, and on that basis some imams have set up a schedule showing all the daily prayer times for a full month, and if he is absent at a given time, he marks it as an absence, and when he receives his salary, he either asks the Waqf for permission to take the salary for the times he did not pray, or he deducts it himself, donates it, and binds himself to this method. Is their action correct? And is what was reported about you also correct?May Allah reward you well. The Shaykh: As for what was reported about us, it is not correct. We are absent for one or two times, or one or two days, for matters that the situation requires, and we do not deduct anything. The imam is the imam, and one or two days in the month does no harm. But some people—may Allah protect us from that—take the position of imam in their name and delegate it to another person for all the prayers. For example, he takes a salary of 1000 riyals and gives the one who prays 500 riyals. Who is entitled to the remaining 500? Especially since it is from the public treasury, which cannot be spent except in exchange for benefit and work. So what entitles you to take 1000 riyals and give this substitute of yours 500 riyals?! This is forbidden without doubt, and whoever eats it consumes it unlawfully. And worse than that is when this person is appointed in the mosque, even though the state regulations do not permit it, but he conceals it. He takes the job in his name and gives it to the one he appointed. This involves aggression against the state and its system, and involves consuming what is unlawful in the amount that exceeds what he gives to the one he appointed. For example, some people take from those whom the state does not permit to hold this position, and they agree that he will be the one facing the state—Meaning: the citizen—and the one actually performing the work is the one whom the state does not permit to hold this position, and he does not care and takes the extra. This is also forbidden,And in it, as I said, are two prohibitions: The first prohibition: the concealment, which is deception of the state.
The second danger: consuming wealth unlawfully.
Even if it were assumed that he said: I give the entire salary to this man who acted on my behalf. It is not permissible, as long as the regulations do not permit him to hold this position; because every one of the sons of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a pledge of allegiance on his neck to the one in authority there,It requires, by virtue of the noble verses: [Al-Nisa: 59] which requires that he abide by this system.
The questioner: What about the status of the cleaner in the mosque? The cleaner—by Allah—They said to us, meaning: the responsible party—the point is to clean the mosque, and the intention regarding the cleaner does not differ; the point is that the mosque is cleaned and maintained. Perhaps the maintenance of a non-national in the mosque and his cleaning of it is better than that of a national. The national is lazy and bored, but foreigners are generally more beneficial. And I have asked some of the officials about this matter, and they said: We do not want anything but a maintained mosque. But out of scrupulousness, a person should not take anything extra beyond what this person did or give it to him.
As for what he did for himself, this is something we do not say: There is something to it! Perhaps he loves scrupulousness.
The questioner: Fine, you said: distribute the papers to a group of young men. The Shaykh: No mistake, this is excessive asceticism.
The questioner: He gives them the papers and says: If you wish. The Shaykh: No, absolutely not. He does not give them the papers; he does it himself and does not oblige the people to do it. And if the people are given these papers out of scrupulousness and worship, they might act upon it, and this is excessive asceticism.And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (The excessive ascetics will be destroyed) But people differ in scrupulousness. A person might be scrupulous and feel hesitation about something, while another does not see it that way.And it is mentioned that Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him): A beggar came to ask a woman or a man,And I think it was a woman, so she said to him: O Abu 'Abdullah, the Sultan passes by, and we are spinning by the light of the moon. And with his passing, our work increases, because the lights become stronger and wider. Do we have the right to this?So he said: Yes, you did not bring the lights. They passed through the market, and Allah benefited you with them.
This is the meaning of his statement. He was surprised by this question.So when she left, he said to the one around him: From which woman?They said: This is so-and-so, the sister of Ibrahim ibn Adham.So he said: Invite her. So they invited her, and she came.So he said: That is not permissible for you. How?He said: From your house came the scrupulousness.
Meaning: You are people of scrupulousness, and people differ.
The second danger: consuming wealth unlawfully.
Even if it were assumed that he said: I give the entire salary to this man who acted on my behalf. It is not permissible, as long as the regulations do not permit him to hold this position; because every one of the sons of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a pledge of allegiance on his neck to the one in authority there,It requires, by virtue of the noble verses:
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْThe questioner: What about the status of the cleaner in the mosque? The cleaner—by Allah—They said to us, meaning: the responsible party—the point is to clean the mosque, and the intention regarding the cleaner does not differ; the point is that the mosque is cleaned and maintained. Perhaps the maintenance of a non-national in the mosque and his cleaning of it is better than that of a national. The national is lazy and bored, but foreigners are generally more beneficial. And I have asked some of the officials about this matter, and they said: We do not want anything but a maintained mosque. But out of scrupulousness, a person should not take anything extra beyond what this person did or give it to him.
As for what he did for himself, this is something we do not say: There is something to it! Perhaps he loves scrupulousness.
The questioner: Fine, you said: distribute the papers to a group of young men. The Shaykh: No mistake, this is excessive asceticism.
The questioner: He gives them the papers and says: If you wish. The Shaykh: No, absolutely not. He does not give them the papers; he does it himself and does not oblige the people to do it. And if the people are given these papers out of scrupulousness and worship, they might act upon it, and this is excessive asceticism.And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (The excessive ascetics will be destroyed) But people differ in scrupulousness. A person might be scrupulous and feel hesitation about something, while another does not see it that way.And it is mentioned that Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him): A beggar came to ask a woman or a man,And I think it was a woman, so she said to him: O Abu 'Abdullah, the Sultan passes by, and we are spinning by the light of the moon. And with his passing, our work increases, because the lights become stronger and wider. Do we have the right to this?So he said: Yes, you did not bring the lights. They passed through the market, and Allah benefited you with them.
This is the meaning of his statement. He was surprised by this question.So when she left, he said to the one around him: From which woman?They said: This is so-and-so, the sister of Ibrahim ibn Adham.So he said: Invite her. So they invited her, and she came.So he said: That is not permissible for you. How?He said: From your house came the scrupulousness.
Meaning: You are people of scrupulousness, and people differ.