Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

 

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Sir, can we give (sort of bribe) a person to ask him to read koran with meaning ? AS sunasara 

 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

 

Answer:

 

Reward money for reciting quran

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2216        Narrated by Imran ibn Husayn

When Imran came upon a story-teller who was reciting the Qur'an and then asking for payment he first uttered the words, "We belong to Allah and to Him do we return" and then told that he had heard Allah's Messenger (saws) say, "When anyone recites the Quran, let him ask a reward for it only from Allah, for people will arise who will recite the Qur'an and ask a reward for it from men!"

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2210        Narrated by Abidah al-Mulayki

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "Do not make the Quran a pillow, but recite it as it deserves to be recited during the night and the day. Recite it aloud, chant it, and consider its contents, perhaps you may prosper; but do not seek to obtain reward for it in this world, for it provides rewards."

 

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2217        Narrated by Buraydah ibn al-Hasib

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "If anyone recites the Quran, seeking thereby to receive a living from people, he will come on the Day of Resurrection with his face as a fleshless bone."

 

The absolute majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that to seek any personal or material benefit when reciting the Quran when doing ‘dawah’ or inviting people to Islam is impermissible.

 

But they hold it acceptable and permissible if an institution or a teacher were to charge a nominal fee to teach their students the art and science of reciting the Quran.  The ‘qiyaas’ of the opinion of the scholars who hold it permissible for a teacher to charge a nominal fee to teach their students the art of reciting the Quran is based on the hadith whereby the Messenger of Allah (saws) married a man to a woman for the ‘mehr’ of having memorized some Surahs of the Quran.

 

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.66 Narrated by Sahl bin Sad

A woman came to Allah's Messenger (saws) and said, "I present myself (to you) (for marriage)." She stayed for a long while, then a man said, "If you (O Prophet (saws)) are not in need of her, then marry her to me." The Prophet (saws) said, "Have you got anything in order to pay her Mahr?" He said, "I have nothing.” The Prophet (saws) said, "Try (to find something), even if it were an iron ring." But he was not able to find (even that).  The Prophet (saws) said (to him), "Do you memorize something of the Qur'an?" "Yes," he said, "Such Sura and Such Sura," naming those Suras. The Prophet (saws) then said, "We have married her to you for what you know of the Quran (by heart)."

 

The majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that the impermissibility of seeking a material benefit for the recitation of the Glorious Quran implies to those who do ‘dawah’ and invite people to Islam, or to those who are called upon to recite the Quran in a gathering, etc.  The seeking of such compensation when reciting the Glorious Quran is impermissible in Islam.

 

But if an institutor or a teacher charges their students a nominal fee for their efforts in teaching them the art and science of reciting the Quran, there is no harm. 

 

Thus in conclusion, to seek a material reward for merely reciting the Glorious Quran is absolutely discouraged and deemed impermissible; but if an institutor or a teacher seeks a nominal compensation or fee for their efforts to teach their students the art of reciting the Quran, there is no harm.  And Allah Alone Knows Best.

 

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone.  Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

 

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

 

 

Burhan