What is the ruling on taking an hourly wage in dollars for teaching foreigners the Quran and religion, and what is the legal ruling regarding the hadith of the bow?
It is permissible to take a wage for teaching the rulings of religion and jurisprudence, by scholarly consensus. As for teaching the Qur’an, scholars have differed on it. The Shafi'is and Malikis permitted it, as did one narration from Ahmad. The Hanbalis and Hanafis forbade it. The view of permissibility is the soundest and strongest in terms of evidence, relying on Prophetic traditions such as: "The most deserving thing for which you take a wage is the Book of Allah," and the incident of Abu Sa'id performing ruqya with Surah Al-Fatiha for a wage, and that the Qur’an was permitted to be a mahr in marriage, which indicates the permissibility of taking a wage for it. The traditions forbidding it were answered by either being deemed weak, abrogated, or interpreted as applying to specific cases.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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