Question:
What is the ruling on the earnings of a prostitute?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Answer:
Zinā (fornication/adultery) is ḥarām by consensus, and likewise, the earnings from it are also ḥarām.
Prophetic Evidence:
❀ Abū Masʿūd رضي الله عنه narrated:
إن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم نهى عن ثمن الكلب، ومهر البغي، وحلوان الكاهن
“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the price of a dog, the earnings of a prostitute, and the earnings of a fortune-teller.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 2237; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1567)
❀ Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
ثمن الكلب خبيث، ومهر البغي خبيث، وكسب الحجام خبيث
“The price of a dog is evil, the earnings of a prostitute are evil, and the wages of a cupper are evil.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1568)
❀ Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لا يحل ثمن الكلب، ولا حلوان الكاهن، ولا مهر البغي
“The price of a dog is not permissible, nor the earnings of a fortune-teller, nor the earnings of a prostitute.”
(Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3484; Ṣaḥīḥ Abī ʿAwānah: 5273 – ḥasan chain as graded by Ibn Ḥajar in Fatḥ al-Bārī 4/426)
Scholarly Consensus:
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Daqīq al-ʿĪd رحمه الله (702 AH):
الإجماع قائم على تحريم هذين
“There is consensus on the prohibition of these two (the earnings of a prostitute and a fortune-teller).”
(Iḥkām al-Aḥkām Sharḥ ʿUmdat al-Aḥkām, 2/125)
❀ ʿAllāmah Ibn al-ʿAṭṭār رحمه الله (724 AH):
الإجماع قائم فى تحريم ذلك
“There is consensus on the prohibition of such earnings.”
(al-ʿUddah fī Sharḥ al-ʿUmdah, 2/1119)
Conclusion:- The earnings of a prostitute are ḥarām by Qur’an, Sunnah, and consensus of the Ummah.
- Anyone who engages in such earnings is indulging in khabīth (impure and unlawful) income.
