Discussion of the hadith (Actions are but by intentions . . .) .

The Shaykh : And so came the famous, authentic hadith with which Imam al-Bukhari opened his book al-Sahih, . The commentators on the hadith mention that the reason for this hadith is that a man went out with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to fight in the cause of Allah, outwardly, but his intention was that he might obtain a woman in that land which was the target of the campaign, known as Umm Qays. So he went out to fight in the hope of obtaining this woman. This became known among the scholars of hadith as the hadith of the Emigrant of Umm Qays, meaning that this man emigrated with the intention of obtaining that woman, and he did not purify his intention in the emigration or in fighting in the cause of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So he was called the Emigrant of Umm Qays. I say that the scholars of hadith mention this occasion, and although the chain of narration for this occasion is not authentic according to the method of the scholars of hadith, the original hadith itself is clear and established with certainty. This is because, first, its chain of narration is authentic and free from any defect, and second, because the entire Ummah accepted this hadith. So much so that some scholars, such as al-Nawawi and others, said that this hadith is one-third of Islam, because all actions are based on the sincerity that the hadith encourages. to the end of the hadith. Therefore, it is necessary to draw the attention of these teachers who are assisted by such aid, which is gathered from many benefactors, to not consider that as a wage, for that would invalidate their work. Rather, this is considered a fee, a salary, a reward for assistance, and so on. There is no doubt that the ruling on a single action differs in the Shari'ah according to the difference in intention. Therefore, a Muslim should not belittle this distinction between taking this money as a wage and taking it as compensation or assistance. He should not belittle this distinction, because it is a fundamental distinction. This is because it is established that the status of a single action differs according to the difference in intention. Among the evidence for this is the authentic hadith in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the poor when they complained to him about their situation. They were envious of the rich regarding the charity they performed, even though the poor participated with them in acts of worship such as prayer and fasting, but the rich excelled them in charity. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) answered them with the well-known story, saying . Here is the point . So this man satisfied his desire, and this one satisfied his desire. That one satisfied his desire and a reward was recorded for him, while the other satisfied his desire and a sin was recorded against him. Based on this distinction between one intention and the other in the same action, some scholars elaborated on the previous hadith, "Actions are but by intentions," and gave some examples illustrating the importance of this type of hadith. They said: If a man traveled and then returned to his country and entered his house, and had intercourse with his wife, and by the nature of a traveling man, he would be eager for his wife, but it became clear to him afterwards that this was not his wife, for some reason, his wife had gone to her family, and her sister or another woman took her place, and so on. Then that man fell into error, but the man, when he had intercourse with her while he thought she was his lawful wife, has no sin upon him. This is contrasted with another example, the exact opposite of this: a married man who is not satisfied with his wife, so he went out one night seeking to satisfy his desire with some women. When he entered a house, knowing that there were prostitutes, a woman was presented to him. Naturally, under dim lights, he satisfied his desire with her, and it turned out to be his wife. Because when he left the house to satisfy his desire through what is forbidden, she in turn also went out seeking such forbidden desire. They met without an appointment and without recognition, but they were a married couple, yet both were sinful. Even though one of them satisfied his desire with his wife, and she in turn satisfied her desire with her husband, the intention was for what is forbidden. So the first one, although he was with someone who was not his lawful wife, is not sinful, while the other, although he was with his lawful wife, is sinful. Why? Because of his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: . So if the two men know the religious knowledge, one is rewarded and the other is burdened with a sin, and both have a salary. They differ according to the difference in intention. Therefore, in my opinion, it is obligatory that this project be accompanied by drawing attention to this reality, otherwise the matter will become an aid to insincerity in the obedience of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And among that is teaching people. And so that those in charge of this project have encompassed the project from the religious aspect, from all its angles, just as they do well when they strive diligently to gather this assistance to free up some people for teaching, whatever religious knowledge it is, as we mentioned earlier, at the same time, they must direct these teachers to be sincere in their teaching for Allah, Lord of the worlds. This is a reminder, and the reminder benefits the believers, if Allah wills.

The questioner : Shaykh, if we return to discussing the issue from the side of the evidence for the permissibility of taking a wage for recitation, and the evidence from which, as you mentioned, the story of the man who was gifted a bow ... ?

The Shaykh : Do not hold me accountable if I tell you that I am still hearing you repeat the word "wage," for I hope you will modify it.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Because we are in the process of explaining that it is not permissible to take a wage. We know from the Prophetic biography that the fighters were given a share of the war spoils in a regulated, known manner in the Shari'ah. So there is no doubt that these spoils given to them are not a wage for their fighting in the cause of Allah, but rather this is their effort and a reward from Allah for their fighting in the cause of Allah. And yet, the matter is extremely delicate. It came in Sahih Muslim . Even though he was not intending this, because if he were given this material gain and he was not intending ... that his work would be invalidated from the start, and one-third of his reward for fighting in the cause of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, would be lost.

The questioner : ... Is this authentic?

The Shaykh : A hadith in Sahih Muslim in this meaning, yes. So we take from this hadith and its like an answer with two branches. From one side, it permits taking money in exchange for an act of worship if one performs it sincerely for the face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and this money is presented to him either from the ruling state or from one who acts on its behalf in these obligations. And from the other side, taking this money may reduce the reward of his work, even if we assume complete sincerity in the obedience of his Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He.

The questioner : Peace be upon you

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

The questioner : ... How are you, Shaykh?

The Shaykh : May Allah give you a good morning.

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : And upon you be peace. Welcome. How are you?
The Shaykh : Added to what was mentioned previously is that the original ruling for every action performed by a Muslim is that it is permissible, and its prohibition requires a specific text. And we do not find in the Shari'ah what prohibits such striving in the way of gathering money to designate some individuals from the Muslims and free them up to perform some religious duties. Added to this, or for this reason, was the practice of the Muslims, even in the three centuries attested to for their excellence. For example, the judges and the muftis, all of them were given, I do not say wages, but salaries. And it seems that this salary is, as we referred to it, assistance for these people to be free to perform their duty. Based on what we observe of facts and experiences, it is a pity that for many of the individuals who were freed up for this work, their sincerity begins to decrease until it almost vanishes. But in this case, we do not see that such a reality should divert us from what we may be in the process of helping these people to teach religious knowledge. Because we are performing our duty, and they should perform theirs. If they fall short, we are not held accountable for that. But with the previous condition, which I mentioned, that it is necessary to alert them to the necessity of sincerity to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in their work. This is what comes to my mind as an answer to this question, which has two branches: the branch of the permissibility of gathering money in the way of spreading knowledge, and the other branch is whether it is permissible for these people to take that as a salary. The answer is yes, but it should not be a wage, rather they take it as compensation or a salary. This is what I have, and Allah knows best.