The imam’s duty to record neota

Question

Question: In a certain village there is a long-standing custom that the imam who lives at the mosque has to record the neota (cash contributions at weddings that are written down) and the like at weddings; and if the imam refuses, the people object. One imam avoids it, and another imam does it. Is writing this neota permissible or not?

Answer

Neota is a loan (qard) whose repayment is binding; writing down loan transactions is a Shar‘i command. If this is agreed with the imam at the time of his employment — just as in some places writing up nikahs, cleaning the mosque and similar matters are agreed — then it is valid.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

Preview. The full text opens with JavaScript enabled.