an act of worship, but is like a craft practised for payment.

Those who prohibit hiring people to perform these duties argue that they may only be performed as worship of Allah, just as prayer, fasting, and Quran recitation may only be performed as worship of Allah; hiring someone to perform them removes that character.

Those who permit this argue that it provides a benefit to the person hiring, so payment may be taken for it, as for other benefits. They further argue that if these duties are not acts of worship in such circumstances, they are not performed as worship; they may therefore be performed either as worship or otherwise, because of the benefit they provide.

Those who distinguish between someone in need and someone who is not—and this is closer to the correct view—argue that a person in need who earns a living through these duties can intend to perform them for Allah, taking payment to help him worship. Earning a living to support one’s dependants is also obligatory, so he thereby fulfils his obligations. This differs from someone who is financially self-sufficient: he has no need to earn a living, and thus no need prompting him to perform these duties for other than Allah. Rather, since Allah has provided him with sufficient means and this is a communal obligation, he is among those required to fulfil it. If it cannot be fulfilled except through him, it becomes an individual obligation upon him. And Allah knows best.