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Should speakers charge high fees for majlis?

Yes
1
17%
No
5
83%
#16135
Assalamu Alaykum,

It is with a sad and concerned mind that I write to you after recently watching a clip of yours on Youtube where you call the people who criticize speakers charging large fees as a disease. You further go on to call zakireen of Ahlul Bayt who refuse to put a price on their service a problem and disease as well. For your sake, the video I refer to is available here:


I strongly disagree with these personal views of yours that you have raised from the pulpit of the Prophet (saww).

Firstly, to charge large amount for majlis is not justified according to the Qur'an. I am sure you will agree that the Holy Prophet (saww) was the best teacher to mankind. Yet when it comes to repaying the prophet for his work, the Qur'an asks only "for the love of those near of kin" the Ahul Bayt (42:23).

You then mention that the people complaining are also the one who are spending $35 for a film or sports match. I have not yet been to either of these and I am sure most of my brothers who feel the pinch of expensive mullas have not either. Nonetheless, the seemingly 'wrong' done by people with their private money should not justify wastage of Imam's money. Someone might say that there are people who buy million dollars yachts; does this mean we should spend that much from the mosque's money?

"When you've given 3,173 lectures on the internet, don't you deserve a little bit of the work that you have done?"

The keyword here is a little bit. Apart from the fact that reward should be expected in the hereafter, I am sure $1500+ is more than just a little bit!

Moving on to your story of Imam Husayn and the man who taught Imam's son bismillah. I have the following objections.
1. How sure are you of the authenticity of this story? I ask because though I am nothing compared to the great Imam, I did not have my son taught bismillah by someone else. I am sure Imam too would not have had a teacher to teach such a basic thing to his son. People used to flock to the Imam for guidance; I find it doubtful Imam would have a teacher for his son.

2. For arguments sake, assuming the story to be true (which it is not unless you prove it to be so), the person who was rewarded by the Imam was gifted with the pearls after the son learnt bismillah. In a majlis, how sure are you that the audience has learnt anything?
Also, the teacher did not demand the pearls as a condition for teaching.

3. Again, assuming the story to be true, the Imam himself gifted the man. The teacher did not ask for anything. Similar is the case when it comes to charity. We are advised to give charity but on the other hand, the poor is recommended not to beg from any other than Allah.

Finally, you mention that sometimes it is the speaker who is the problem, the disease. I am shocked at the audacity with which you abuse these speakers who are unselfish and godly. I fear asking, if the selfless ulema who do not charge are diseases, what are money hungry speakers? If charging money to recite lectures and teach is what makes one undiseased, does it mean selfless, humble people like Aytullah Seestani and the remaining marja of the hawzat illmiya in Najaf and Qum are all diseased?

If charging fees for teaching was a good practice, the great Ayatullah Seestani would not have mentioned in rule no 1008 in his book of laws that, "To take wages for teaching obligatory acts of prayers is haraam." This clearly shows that whilst it is not recommended to charge large fees, it is sometimes prohibited to charge at all.

To further my point, I will quote a question-answer reply from The Great Aytullah Makarem Shirazi which I believe is self-explanatory. The book, "Fiqh of Azadari" is available online at www.makaremshirazi.org in Farsi.

Question 127: Is a Dhakir of the Ahlul Bayt permitted to take monetary compensation in return for mentioning the merits and the tragedies of the Ahlul Bayt, peace be upon them?

Answer: There is no legal program (shar'i) with specifying a set monetary compensation; however such an action is not becoming of the status of the ones who speak about the Ahlul Bayt, peace be upon them all, as such individuals must be the manifestation of God-consciousness (Taqwa).

To conclude my dear shaikh, I understand that hidaya comes at a cost! However if a single majlis costs $1500, then that would mean we cut short even the salawats recited as each 30 second salawat costs us $12.5!

There is more to dawah and tabligh then money.

Wabillahi tawfiq
Muhammad Mahdi Karim
Dar es Salaam resident.
#16139
(bismillah)
(salam)

If i remember correctly Syd. Ammar was reciting in Dar es Salaam when he talked about this. It was quite some time ago. Does anyone remember the year?

Giving him benefit of doubt, perhaps he chose poor words that he later apologized for? Does anyone know if he retracted his words later on? I am sure someone from Dar es Salaam must have discussed his comments with him at that time.
#16144
I can identify two issues that we need to ponder upon and discuss (inshallah without any slandering or insult to any personality) from the clip posted by the original poster:

1. Are those who do not demand payment a disease? or are those who do not insist on having pre-discussed and agreed amounts a disease? Because they are setting a precedent where communities get used to getting the service free or communities have then freedom to decide the amount of hadya they will present to a speaker. Are the above reasons justified to call them a disease? Are therr any other reasons which can justify calling them a disease?

2. Fees vs Hadya: which is appropriate for a zaakir e husayn or/and and aalim?
#16150
The original lecture was delivered in Australia, I think, since the person who posted it on youtube says it's on al-eeman's website.

I found this hadith appropriate, so i quote 'The dinar(money) is the illness of religion, and the scholar (al-'alim) is the physician of religion. So if you see that the physician brings illness upon himself, distrust him, and know that he is not to advise others."' (Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 14, p. 319, no. 14)

Re: Syed Arif Rizvi, I recall him saying something just as bad the last time he was in dar, only he was a little more cryptic. He implied Agha Seestani has failed in his duty towards the Imam and the the latter would grab him by his beard when Imam reappears, nastaghfirullah!
#16151
If I may reiterate, with all due respect: A lot of people say that these topics should not be discussed on facebook, gives a bad picture etc etc. That is not an appropriate point, these occurances are real and need to be discussed. Trying to hide them will help no one and is simply hypocritical.

First of all, the emails going around are slightly exaggerated. The title of the video attached is also misleading.

What I can personally conclude:
1. He claims the community is stingy for not being willing to pay. I say a lecturer is also stingy for not willing to part knowledge unless paid.

2. He talks about generosity, lecturers should also be generous.

3. He gives an example of incident where Imam Hussein (a.s) gives a person so much for teaching his son Bismillah. Notice that the man did not ask for so much, it was Imam's choice to give. The man did not demand a price and contract beforehand.

So Sheikh Amaar is absolutely right, our communities are stingy and that should change. But he should also not demand this out of his own generosity. The community should improve through Nahi anil Munkar and not through the secularization of religion.

What he is advocating for is making it a business transaction. You cannot argue with that fact. And that is wrong.

Our communities are wrong, but two wrongs do not make a right!

And for those who claim that following suit of Sh. Nakshawani will encourage the youth to "pursue a career in tabligh", I understand fully that making it a "business" will bring along more speakers. We must understand tht these new speakers will be pursuing a secular career and not one for the sake of Allah (s.w.t). That's the point: This will secularize religion and that is wrong on all accords.
#16152
Fatimah Zahra Karim wrote:The original lecture was delivered in Australia, I think, since the person who posted it on youtube says it's on al-eeman's website.
You are right. It is the 9th lecture in Muharram 2008 recited in Australia. This particular part can be heard from 36:20 to 39:20 in the lecture. I had perhaps heard it online at that time.

Fatimah Zahra Karim wrote:Re: Syed Arif Rizvi, I recall him saying something just as bad the last time he was in dar, only he was a little more cryptic. He implied Agha Seestani has failed in his duty towards the Imam and the the latter would grab him by his beard when Imam reappears, nastaghfirullah!
I unfortunately missed most of Syd. Arif lectures but the quotes i have heard from those who attended his lectures like the one you are quoting above seem very extreme. I wonder if his ideas were taken seriously by anyone. If they were then perhaps we should start discussions on them in separate topics.
#16153
Br. Taha, you have raised very good points.

The community is responsible to ensure that the scholars and the recitors do not face undue difficulties in performing their duties.

For example if the community invites a speaker from abroad then it goes without saying that the community should ensure the travel, accomodation and food is taken care of. The community is also responsible to ensure that the scholar and/or the speaker is given a hadya.

The scholar and/or speaker on the other hand would get the greatest reward of his tabligh from Allah (swt)
#16271
Generally, it is left for the jamaat to decide. And in addition to the jamaat itself (for the ladies, at least) individual members also give hadiyas to the speaker.
#16277
Has any other zakireen made similar comments or raised the same concerns?

I have heard of issues when zakireen would feel let down when the hadya they are given does not match their expection. But this has been hearsay and not observed first-hand.

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