and it is inconceivable that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would permit him to feed his slaves anything unlawful.

Others said that such earnings are indeed unlawful, citing what Muslim narrated in his Sahīh from Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj—may Allah be pleased with them both—that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“A cupper’s earnings are foul, the price of a dog is foul, and a prostitute’s fee is foul.”

In the two Sahīh collections, Ibn Abī Juhayfah said:

“I saw my father buy a slave who practised cupping. He ordered that his cupping instruments be broken, and they were broken. I asked him about this, and he said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade the price of blood.’”

Those scholars said: Describing these earnings as foul implies that they are forbidden, just as a prostitute’s fee and a soothsayer’s fee are forbidden.

Those who held the first view replied: It is established that he said:

“Whoever eats from these two foul plants must not come near our mosque.”

He called them foul because of their offensive smell, yet they are not forbidden. He also said:

“Let none of you pray while holding back the two foul things”—that is, urine and feces.

Thus, describing these earnings as foul is due to the earner’s contact with impurity, not because they are forbidden. The evidence for this is that he paid the cupper his fee and permitted him to use it to feed slaves and animals. By contrast, neither a prostitute nor a soothsayer is entitled to such fees, nor may they be used to feed slaves or animals.

In any case, someone who needs these earnings is not in the same position as someone who can do without them. As the early generations said:

“Earnings that carry some indignity are better than begging from people.”

For this reason, when the scholars differed over accepting payment for teaching the Quran and similar activities: