Is it permissible to pay scholars for quick answers to religious and jurisprudential questions?

If the question is whether it is permissible to pay money to a scholar for issuing a fatwa: The issue is taking payment for a fatwa. If issuing the fatwa is an obligation upon the mufti, then it is impermissible for him to take payment, by agreement of the imams. If it is not an obligation, the majority of jurists hold that it is impermissible to take payment, contrary to the Malikis who consider it permissible if it is not an obligation. The preponderant view is that of the majority, which prohibits taking payment absolutely, because a fatwa is a conveyance on behalf of Allah and His Messenger, and taking payment for it is definitively impermissible. And if taking payment is impermissible, then giving it is also impermissible, due to it being an aid to sin. However, if the questioner cannot find anyone else to issue a fatwa, then it appears permissible to offer payment due to the questioner's need, even if it is impermissible for the mufti to take it.