Taking Money for Conducting Milad or Visiting Graves
Roman Hossain from Email
Question: Is it permissible to take money for conducting Milad, visiting a grave, or performing Janazah? If the relatives of the deceased give money as a gift, can it be accepted? I am an imam at a mosque, and I do not like taking such money, so I want to know the ruling.
Answer: It is not permissible to take payment in return for voluntary acts of worship. However, in the early Islamic period, Islamic jurists made provisions for salaries and allowances for imams, khatibs, religious teachers and preachers so that they could continue performing obligatory and necessary religious duties for the Muslim community without having to take up other professions.
However, respected Islamic scholars do not consider it appropriate to take payment specifically for visiting graves, making dua, conducting Milad, reciting the Quran, and similar acts.
However, if an imam, scholar or pious person is given a gift without it being payment for a specific act of grave visitation or another Sunnah, Nafl or Mustahab act, accepting the gift is permissible.
It is also permissible to receive payment for treating a sick person through dua, Durood and Quranic practices.
Answered by: Allama Mufti Ubaidur Rahman Khan Nadwi
Source: Jame-ul-Fatawa, Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence and Fatwas
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