Quranic theme
Wage
الأجرة
17 verses
The most frequently repeated statement regarding wages in the Quran is a firm refusal to accept them. Across multiple narratives, prophets stand before their skeptical nations and declare they want no money for their guidance. This rejection of an earthly wage (ajr) becomes the definitive proof of a messenger's sincerity, severing the divine message from any suspicion of personal enrichment or political ambition.
Why do the prophets refuse a wage? When Noah, Hud, Salih, Lot, and Shu'ayb deliver their warnings, each repeats the exact same phrase: "I ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds" (26:109, 26:127, 26:145, 26:164, 26:180). The Prophet Muhammad is instructed to echo this standard, telling his people that he asks no reward because the Quran is simply a lesson for all humanity (6:90, 12:104). This financial independence validates the messenger to his audience. In Surah Yasin, a man rushes from the farthest part of the city to urge his people to believe the apostles, using their lack of monetary demand as his primary argument: "Follow them: they are not asking you to reward them and they are rightly guided" (36:21). The prophet's compensation is entirely deferred to the Creator who formed him (11:51). The only "payment" requested is that the listener acts on the message and takes a path toward God (25:57).
Can religious duties be done for pay? Because the prophets so adamantly rejected payment for conveying revelation, classical scholars debated whether everyday Muslims could accept wages for religious work. Abu Hafs al-Nasafi argued from these verses that taking a wage for teaching the Quran, narrating hadith, leading prayers, or giving the call to prayer is impermissible (Al-Taysir fi al-Tafsir, 6/142). The underlying logic, as Ibn Uthaymin explains, is that conveying the religion is a strict obligation, and a person cannot take an earthly wage for fulfilling a duty to God, though he notes that scholars ultimately formed two differing opinions on whether modern teachers can be compensated (Tafsir al-Uthaymin: Saba', 288).
Does the Quran recognize wages for physical labor? While spiritual guidance is heavily insulated from commerce, the Quran acknowledges the normal expectation of wages for physical work and worldly services. When Moses and al-Khidr are refused hospitality in a town, al-Khidr still proceeds to laboriously repair a collapsing wall for free. Moses, watching the grueling labor, objects to the missed economic opportunity: "But if you had wished you could have taken payment for doing that" (18:77). Everyday family contracts also carry strict obligations for payment. When parents hire a wet-nurse to feed their infant, the agreed-upon wage (ujrah) must be handed over honorably, without injustice or delay, as Abu Bakr al-Jaza'iri notes regarding the rulings of infancy (Aysar al-Tafasir, 1/222).
The ultimate statement on prophetic compensation shifts the burden of payment entirely away from the human audience, daring them to find any hidden financial motive. The messengers are told to return any hypothetical earthly payment to the people themselves. "Say, ‘If I have asked you for any reward, you can keep it. It is God alone who will reward me: He is witness to everything’" (34:47).
Verses
All 17 verses, in mushaf order.
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ ۖ فَبِهُدَىٰهُمُ ٱقْتَدِهْ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا ۖ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
Those were the people God guided, ‘[Prophet], follow the guidance they received.’ Say, ‘I ask no reward for it from you: it is a lesson for all people.’
يَـٰقَوْمِ لَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱلَّذِى فَطَرَنِىٓ ۚ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
I ask no reward from you, my people; my reward comes only from Him who created me. Why do you not use your reason?
وَمَا تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۚ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
You ask no reward from them for this: it is a reminder for all people
فَٱنطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَتَيَآ أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ ٱسْتَطْعَمَآ أَهْلَهَا فَأَبَوْا۟ أَن يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَارًا يُرِيدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ فَأَقَامَهُۥ ۖ قَالَ لَوْ شِئْتَ لَتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا
And so they travelled on. Then, when they came to a town and asked the inhabitants for food but were refused hospitality, they saw a wall there that was on the point of falling down and the man repaired it. Moses said, ‘But if you had wished you could have taken payment for doing that.’
قُلْ مَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ إِلَّا مَن شَآءَ أَن يَتَّخِذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ سَبِيلًا
Say, ‘I am not asking for any reward for it, but anyone who wishes should take a path to his Lord.’
وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
I ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds:
وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
I ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds.
وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
I ask no reward from you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds.
وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
I ask no reward from you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds.
وَمَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
I ask no reward of you, for my only reward is with the Lord of the Worlds.
قُلْ مَا سَأَلْتُكُم مِّنْ أَجْرٍ فَهُوَ لَكُمْ ۖ إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلَّا عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ شَهِيدٌ
Say, ‘If I have asked you for any reward, you can keep it. It is God alone who will reward me: He is witness to everything.’
ٱتَّبِعُوا۟ مَن لَّا يَسْـَٔلُكُمْ أَجْرًا وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ
Follow them: they are not asking you to reward them and they are rightly guided.
قُلْ مَآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ أَجْرٍ وَمَآ أَنَا۠ مِنَ ٱلْمُتَكَلِّفِينَ
[Prophet], say, ‘I ask no reward from you for this, nor do I claim to be what I am not:
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِى يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ۗ وَمَن يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَّزِدْ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسْنًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ
it is of this that God gives good news to His servants who believe and do good deeds. Say [Prophet], ‘I ask no reward from you for this, only the affection due to kin.’ If anyone does good, We shall increase it for him; God is most forgiving and most appreciative.
أَمْ تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ
Do you [Prophet] demand a payment from them that would burden them with debt?
أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنتُم مِّن وُجْدِكُمْ وَلَا تُضَآرُّوهُنَّ لِتُضَيِّقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ ۚ وَإِن كُنَّ أُو۟لَـٰتِ حَمْلٍ فَأَنفِقُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ حَتَّىٰ يَضَعْنَ حَمْلَهُنَّ ۚ فَإِنْ أَرْضَعْنَ لَكُمْ فَـَٔاتُوهُنَّ أُجُورَهُنَّ ۖ وَأْتَمِرُوا۟ بَيْنَكُم بِمَعْرُوفٍ ۖ وَإِن تَعَاسَرْتُمْ فَسَتُرْضِعُ لَهُۥٓ أُخْرَىٰ
House the wives you are divorcing according to your means, wherever you house yourselves, and do not harass them so as to make their lives difficult. If they are pregnant, maintain them until they are delivered of their burdens; if they suckle your infants, pay them for it. Consult together in a good way- if you make difficulties for one another, another woman may suckle the child for the father––
أَمْ تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ
Do you demand some reward from them that would burden them with debt?