Making money a condition for attending an invitation meal

Question

Question: In some places there is a custom that religious scholars and students, after being fed at an invitation meal, are given money. Is it permissible in the Shari‘a to take money after eating at the invitation? Also, has any censure come in the Shari‘a regarding those who do not accept an invitation if no money is given? If it is impermissible, may the one who takes it use this money for his own purposes or not? If it is permissible, then of what kind, and if impermissible, then to what degree?

Answer

If isal al-thawab (conveying reward to the deceased) is done by giving money just as it is done by feeding people, there is no harm in it: just as it is proper for a deserving person to eat, it is likewise proper for him to take money.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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