Is it permissible to take a wage for teaching the Qur'an?

The Shaykh : If Allah wills.

The questioner : The first question on my mind is about taking a wage for teaching the Qur'an, and regarding teachers of Islamic education in this era.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner : Regarding teachers of Islamic education, from among the subjects of Islamic education is the Qur'an. Is it permissible to take a wage for this teaching, or what is the correct ruling?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. From Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, we seek success in correct speech and righteous action. I say: It is known by the consensus of the scholars that it is not permissible to take a wage for any type of pure worship, whether it be the Qur'an, the Hadith, or Fiqh, or any knowledge of the Shari'ah by which the Muslim worships and draws near to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. The evidence for this is, I think, not hidden from anyone among the students of knowledge. Among the most famous of these is the saying of our Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, in the Noble Qur'an: And His saying, Mighty and Majestic: The scholars of Tafsir have mentioned regarding this verse that righteous action requires two conditions, derived from this Noble verse: The first condition is that his action be in accordance with the Sunnah. If it contradicts it, it will not be accepted, even if its doer is sincere to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Among the evidence for this is His saying, may peace and blessings be upon him: The second condition, which is the crux of this discussion, is that he be sincere in this action that conforms to the Sunnah. Sincerity is a condition in every act of worship for it to be accepted by Allah, Mighty and Majestic. The other condition is that this act of worship be in accordance with the Sunnah and not contrary to it. If either of these two conditions is lacking, the action is not righteous. If this is a known matter, then the answer to that question is known: it is not permissible to take a wage, absolutely, for any action performed by a Muslim, as long as that action is an act of worship by which the Muslim draws near to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Or, in a perhaps more precise phrase, it is supposed that he draws near to Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, with this action. If this issue is clear and evident in the minds of the students of knowledge, we return to the answer of the question just raised. In brief, it is not permissible to take a wage for teaching the Qur'an. However, there is something here that must be noted: when "wage" is mentioned, it is a right that the worker demands from the one for whom he works and to whom it is presented. In this sense, it is not permissible to take a wage for reciting the Qur'an, teaching it, and other acts of worship, as we mentioned earlier. If this is the case, we say: as for when money is offered from some source, whether that source is governmental or from any individual of the Ummah, and this money is offered as a salary, a gift, or a reward, and the teacher does not take it as a wage—whether for the Qur'an, the Hadith, or similar sciences, as we said earlier—if he takes it, it is not in the sense of a wage, meaning that he performed a work for which he is legally entitled to a wage. Rather, he takes it because it was offered to him by the one who provided this money. He takes it not as a wage, but as a gift, a reward, a salary, or similar meanings that differ from the meaning of a wage in exchange for something. In my opinion, there is no problem with this distinction if we refer to, for example, his saying, may peace and blessings be upon him: to the end of the well-known hadith. The ruling on a single action differs according to the difference in intention. Intention has a very great relationship in validating an action or invalidating it. Among the examples mentioned by some scholars in explaining the hadith of intention is that a man may fulfill a desire, which is lawful for him, and indeed he is rewarded for it, while another fulfills the same desire and is blamed for it. The action is the same, but the result differed due to the difference in intention. One of the clearest examples of this is marriage and fornication. In both of these matters, the person fulfills his desire, but in marriage he is rewarded, and in fornication he is blamed, and the action is the same. They give as an example a man who had intercourse with a woman other than his wife while he thought she was his wife, and he bears no blame for that. And the opposite is exactly the opposite: another man had intercourse with his wife while he thought she was a stranger to him, having approached her to fulfill his desire unlawfully. After he finished, it became clear to him that she was his wife. He is sinful, even though he had intercourse with his wife and satisfied his desire from her. This is because the first man's intention was to approach his wife, but he erred in reality, so no blame fell upon him. And the opposite is exactly the case in the second example. The details of these two scenarios are not difficult for any listener to know the truth of that. If we know this reality, which is that a single action differs according to intention, then the treatment of the issue you raised is by correcting the intention. Whoever is entrusted with the matter of religious education and is assigned a salary or pension, the validation of this action is that he does not take what is offered to him in the sense of a wage that he is entitled to in exchange for any worldly work, but rather he takes it, as we mentioned earlier, in the sense of a gift, a reward, or a salary. For example, when the state is wealthy and holds fast to the Shari'ah rulings and is established on implementing them, it may offer every individual of the Muslims a salary that suffices him and makes him independent of striving and toiling in the land, so that he may devote himself to the worship of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and fulfill what is obligatory upon him regarding the upbringing of his family, his kin, and those around him. This is the practical answer that those responsible for teaching the Muslims any knowledge of the Shari'ah should follow. This is all I have as an answer to that question.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And you as well.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, these meanings of gift and reward sometimes mix in the heart of a person. One becomes strong for a period and the other for a period. One sometimes feels that he is taking this as a wage, and sometimes feels that he is taking it for...?

The Shaykh : The matter, may Allah bless you, is not about feeling, but about correcting what is in the hearts. So I said earlier that the treatment of the issue is that the Muslim, when he takes this money, does not take it as a wage, because if he does that, he invalidates his action, as we mentioned earlier. There are two conditions for the acceptance of an action to be righteous. The first condition is sincerity to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. This is a matter related to 'Aqeedah and to what is settled in the heart of this person to whom this money is offered. As for him feeling this and feeling that, this is very natural. A person may perform two rak'ahs for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and his soul may shift from sincerity to this act of worship to showing off before people that he is a righteous man, and by doing so he invalidates this act of worship, which has absolutely no relation to taking a material wage. But when he develops in his heart the intention in this act of worship, which was supposed to be pure for the Face of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to show off to people in it, that either invalidates his action entirely or reduces the reward of this act of worship in proportion to the strength or weakness of the showing off. The feeling you mentioned is a reality in the hearts of many people. But the research now is how we make what some people may be afflicted with, namely taking some money in exchange for some knowledge or teaching, a matter of correcting this intention. This is the answer.