❖ Is It Permissible to Pay a Mu’adhdhin for Adhān?
① Hadith of ʿUthmān ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ (RA):
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
"Appoint a Mu’adhdhin who does not take wages for calling the Adhān."
(Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd 497, Book of Ṣalāh: Chapter on Taking Wages for Adhān; also in Abū Dāwūd 531, al-Tirmidhī 209, Aḥmad 4/21, al-Nasāʾī 2/23, Ibn Mājah 714, Ibn Khuzaymah 1608)
② Hadith of Abū Maḥdhūrah (RA):
Abū Maḥdhūrah (RA) narrates:
"The Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught me the Adhān. When I completed it, he gave me a pouch containing some silver."
(Ḥasan: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Nasāʾī 613, Book of Adhān: Chapter on How to Call the Adhān; also in Nasāʾī 633, Aḥmad 3/409, Ibn Ḥibbān 1680)
❖ Reconciliation Between the Two Hadiths
Imām al-Shawkānī (RA) said:
"There is no doubt that taking wages is prohibited when it is preconditioned. However, if something is given without request, it is permissible."
(Nayl al-Awṭār 1/528)
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mubārakpūrī (RA) affirmed:
"Indeed, the explanation by Imām al-Shawkānī is most sound and appropriate."
(Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 1/645)
❖ Differences of Opinion Among the Jurists
◉ Imām Abū Ḥanīfah (RA):
Taking wages for Adhān or Iqāmah with a set condition is prohibited (ḥarām).
◉ Imām Mālik (RA):
There is no harm in receiving payment.
◉ Imām al-Shāfiʿī (RA):
Prefers that the Mu’adhdhin should give Adhān voluntarily.
(References: Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 1/645, Nayl al-Awṭār 1/527, al-Umm by al-Shāfiʿī 2/64)
◉ Imām al-Khaṭṭābī (RA):
Receiving wages for Adhān is disliked (makrūh).
(Maʿālim al-Sunan 1/156)
◉ Ibn al-ʿArabī (RA):
The stronger opinion is that receiving wages is permissible.
(ʿĀriḍat al-Aḥwadhī 2/12–13)
◉ Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Mubārakpūrī (RA):
The majority view is that receiving wages is disliked (makrūh).
(Tuḥfat al-Aḥwadhī 1/645)
◉ Ibn Ḥazm (RA):
Receiving wages is impermissible if the person gives Adhān solely for money; in that case, the Adhān is invalid.
However, if a ruler gives a gift as a reward for a good deed, it is permissible.
(al-Muḥallā 1/182)
❖ Preferred (Rājiḥ) Opinion
✔ A Mu’adhdhin who does not take payment should be appointed, as clearly instructed in the Hadith.
✔ However, if such a person is not available, then appointing a paid Mu’adhdhin is permissible, because maintaining the timing of prayer through Adhān is essential for the community.
✔ If the Mu’adhdhin has no other source of livelihood, then receiving payment is not only permissible but necessary, to support his duty.
⚠ Nonetheless, some degree of aversion (karāhah) to accepting wages for Adhān remains—a view held by Imām al-Khaṭṭābī and most scholars.
❖ Conclusion
➊ Appointing a Mu’adhdhin who does not accept wages is preferred.
➋ However, paying a Mu’adhdhin is allowed if needed, especially when no voluntary caller is available or if the Mu’adhdhin relies on it for his livelihood.
➌ The payment should ideally not be preconditioned; it is better if it is given as support or honorarium.
➍ The community must ensure that Adhān is performed regularly and properly—even if that entails hiring a paid Mu’adhdhin.
