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Imaam taking a salary

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Muftionline.co.za

Q:

1. If an imam has no duties except leading farad prayer, is his salary a price/ reward for his salaah? Is it not worshipping for money? Is it halaal to charge for what has been obligated by Allah Ta’ala?

2. If you employ a Hafiz to lead taraweh prayer in Ramadan, is his worship (for money) permissible and is the worship of his followers, behind him, acceptable before Allah Ta’ala?

3. When children are taught Quran by a paid tutor, is the teacher allowed to accept this material reward and still be ‘khyrokum munn ta allaml quraana wa allama hoo’?

4. If it is not permissible to trade your (farad or sunnah) Ibadat for money/ receive salary, how should Imams of masjids and tutors run their household and kitchen?

Please advise in full detail with references from Quran and Sunnah.

Bismillaah

A:

1. It is in lieu of his time.

2. The taraweeh is valid, but to take a remuneration for taraweeh is not permissible.

3. Insha-Allah.

And Allah Ta’ala (الله تعالى) knows best.

Answered by:

Mufti Ebrahim Salejee (Isipingo Beach)

This answer was collected from MuftiOnline.co.za, where the questions have been answered by Mufti Zakaria Makada (Hafizahullah), who is currently a senior lecturer in the science of Hadith and Fiqh at Madrasah Ta’leemuddeen, Isipingo Beach, South Africa.