If the Imam Does Not Receive His Salary on Time

Question

The worshippers give the imam his salary a day or two after the end of the month, yet the imam still says: “You have prayed on credit; the salary should be given as soon as the month ends.” Is this statement of the imam correct?

Answer

Prayer or the imamate is not shopkeeping, nor a commercial occupation, nor a trade for earning a living; the salary has been declared permissible out of compulsion, on account of a Shar‘i necessity. Zayd should not say such a thing, and the muqtadis (those praying behind the imam) should also be mindful of this.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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