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Can a Qur’an Teacher Accept Gifts?

Answered as per Maliki Fiqh by BinBayyah.net

I have a sister who works in Islamic Da`wah, in particular teaching Qur’anic intonation and recitation. She lives in an Arab country where people appreciate teachers, and she is respected much there because she teaches something related to religion. Once, a ceremony was held as a tribute to her, and she was offered a gift, but she strongly refused to accept it. Was she right in her refusal?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and prayer be upon the Messenger of Allah.
It seems that this Muslim sister is too pious. Accepting a gift offered by a certain body, not a person, is acceptable in Islamic Shari`ah, based on the authentic hadith in which the Prophet says, “The worthiest thing to receive a wage for is (teaching) the Book of Allah” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, 5737]. This hadith is cited by the three imams, Malik, Ash-Shafi`i, and Ahmad, to prove the permissibility of accepting payments for teaching the Qur’an. There is a widely known hadith that emphatically prohibits accepting any recompense in return for teaching the Qur’an.
The clearest evidence on prohibition is the hadith reported by Ubay Ibn Ka`b (may Allah be pleased with him), who said, “I taught a man (some of) the Qur’an, and subsequently, he gave me a bow. When I mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah, he said to me, ‘If you take it, you will be taking a bow of fire’. So, I returned it” [Ibn Majah, 2158]. Al-Bayhaqi and Ibn `Abdul-Barr deemed it “disconnected”, while some Qur’anic scholars disagreed with them. After all, this hadith remains controversial, and scholars retorted that it is either abrogated or has a special interpretation, on the grounds that the man had no other teacher, and thus, this (the obligation to teach him Qur’an was) was an individual, not collective, obligation.
This is proved by the hadith in which the Prophet gave `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) money and said to him, “Whatever Allah gives you from it without begging or pursuit, then take it” [Sahih Al-Bukhari, 1473; Sahih Muslim, 1045; Sunan An-Nasa’i, 2605]. There is another hadith that reads, “Exchange gifts with one another so that love increases among you” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad (Unique Literature), 594]; Abu Ya`la, 6013; and Al-Bayhaqi in Ash-Shu`ab (the Branches), 8693]. This indicates that exchanging presents promotes cordiality.
So, we think it would be better for her to accept the gift, and if she is still uncertain, she can then give it away in charity. Also, she should be courteous with her colleagues, as Islam urges kindness and good manners and criticizes harshness. May Allah reward her well for her piousness and fear of falling into doubtful matters. But still, she should be more insightful with respect to her religion. And Allah knows best.

This answer was collected from BinBayyah.net, which contains of feature articles and fatawa by world renowned ‘Alim, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, from Mauritania.

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