Excerpted from Mukhtasar al-Quduri, a highly revered manual of Hanafi fiqh -
In Sunan Ibn Majah and elsewhere is the account of a Sahabi who was teaching
writing and Qur’an to a man of the people of the Suffah. Later on, the man gave Mu`adh a bow. Mu`adh thought that there is nothing wrong in taking it, and besides, he will use it for fighting in the path of Allah, but he was still uncertain so he thought to ask the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). The Prophet told him that “if you want it (the bow) to be girdled around your neck with fire on the Day of Resurrection, then take it.”
Based on this hadith, the authentic view of the Hanafi school is that it is prohibited to take money for teaching of Qur’an. This is the more precautionary view, and is in keeping with the apparent sense of the hadith. The Shafi`is, however, reasoned that the reason for the prohibition issued to Mu`adh here was that they had not fixed any price for the teaching, and that Mu`adh had therefore been teaching only for the sake of reward in the Hereafter, such that if he were to take a material payment, this would reduce or annul his reward. So, they said there is no harm in taking payment if the price was arranged beforehand. They also drew support from the hadith where a group of Companions took a payment of food for ruqyah (curing someone by reciting verses of the Qur’an). The Hanafis respond that this hadith is an evidence for the permissibility of taking payment for ruqyah, but not for teaching the Qur’an.
The hadith does not apply to selling of Islamic books and other materials; it is specifically about _teaching_. Even selling the Qur’an (muSHaf) is not Haram, (except according to a view of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal), but it is makrooh. Although, the salaf used to shy away from accepting money for books and the like also, and this is undoubtedly more precautionary, so as to reserve all reward for the Hereafter. Yet, if someone is making a living by selling books, then there is no harm in charging a profit, w’Allahu a`lam.
The issue of teachers and schools raises another point. As I have mentioned, the authentic view of the madhhab is that taking a fee for teaching Qur’an is Haram. However, later on when Islam became weaker, and the state no longer took the same care of the religion and its people, such that the `ulama and teachers of the Qur’an were no longer provided for by the state, these people came into dire circumstances. They had no source of income, and no education or training (other than religious sciences) which they could use to earn a living. It was quite literally a matter of life and death for them. Under these situations, fatwa was given in the madhhab on the permissibility of taking payment for teaching Qur’an, since necessity dictates exceptions and makes the prohibited temporarily permissible. Ibn `Abidin has mentioned this in sharH `uqood rasm al-muftee.
It should be note, however, that this was a specific fatwa for a specific situation, and that the authentic view of the madhhab remains one of prohibition of accepting payment. So, if a person is in such dire circumstances, with no other way out, he could take by this fatwa then and accept some payment. If no such mitigating circumstances exist, it remains prohibited. w’Allahu a`lam.
The reality is today it is possible to live a mediocre lifestyle with a job that requires very little training.
Are we in the life or death situation today that has made charging for ‘Islamic knowledge’ permissible? Or, do we really believe it is a life or death situation for our scholars to be able to afford macbook pro’s?
While the above excerpt mentions the two categories of teaching Quran and charging for the text, the reality is when teaching Islam *you are teaching Quran*. What did ‘teaching Quran’ mean in a society where everyone spoke Arabic? It meant understanding, developing of knowledge based on the Quran and its lessons. This prohibition clearly applied to the entire field of Islamic study, much less the very explicit study of tajweed and qirat.
Later jurists have extended the permission (of payment) to similar duties like leading the prayer (imamah), calling for prayers (adhan), teaching Hadith and Fiqh, etc., for they are related to the teaching of the Holy Qur’an, and survival of Islam equally depends on them.”
[Mufti Muhammad Shafi, Ma'ariful Qur'an, Vol. 1, p191]
In the above excerpt, it is interesting to note how the wording of the exception is to ‘accept some payment’ vs demand some payment. With expensive books and classes, Muslims in the pursuit of ‘Islamic knowledge’ have created a subculture that excludes the poor and the unread. Some Sheykhs of the ‘spiritual sciences’ charge even for their sohbet. Now we even have major islamic ‘conferences’ with “pay-per-view“.
Why aren’t all these books and tapes available online for free? Empire building.
The new industry of disseminating ‘Islamic knowledge’ or, in modern days called ‘Sacred knowledge’, has reached a new peak. Any and all stigma related to collecting of personal money under the name of Islam has been lost. Instead of doing it quietly, with discretion, it is now brazen and up-front. What is the wisdom in the Hanafi position above, which ruled over Muslims for centuries? A personal examination will demonstrate quite a few lessons.
It is reported by Jabir that the Prophet said: The flesh and body that is raised on unlawful sustenance shall not enter Paradise. Hell is more deserving to the flesh that grows on one’s body out of unlawful sustenance. (Ahmad).
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