Question:
If the Prophet ﷺ gave wages to a cupper (hajjam) like Abu Taibah for performing cupping (Hijama), how can some narrations describe the earnings from cupping as “bad” (khabeeth)?
Answer:
If some narrations describe earnings from the cupping therapy as “bad”.
Then, would Prophetﷺ himself call something bad and then give wages for it? That would be bad earnings. Would anyone do it for free? First of all, ‘free’?
Think about it practically. Cupping (Hijama) was a medical treatment that existed in those days. It was a practice they had. We cannot say whether it was truly medicine or not. In that era, such a medical treatment existed. Would the one performing this treatment do it for free? As a service? They would expect wages for it. So, it is a job and Prophetﷺ gave wages for it.
Generally, for any job, should we give fair wages or not? We say we should give wages. Then, if we say it is bad, we can call the bad act bad. But a good act is also effort, isn’t it? Is cutting hair a bad job? It is also a good job, a job needed by humans. For such matters, Prophetﷺ himself gave wages.
If it is said that he called it bad earnings, then we have a contradiction. There is no alternative. When two contradictory things come, can we accept both? How can we say it is both good and bad? If it’s good, say good; if it’s bad, say bad. It becomes a situation where we have to accept one and reject the other.
So, how can we combine them? Some people give an explanation. If taking wages is considered bad, it means it is not very good. They have used the word ‘Habeeth’ (evil/bad). Then you give an interpretation. You reject one meaning and say another. Both will come. Prophetﷺ gave wages to Abu Taibah for performing cupping. He told him to take his rightful wages.
Looking at this, since Prophetﷺ did it, this is acceptable. Firstly, generally, if such work is called bad, who would do it? On top of that. For the world to run smoothly, all kinds of work must be done. If someone says, “I won’t keep a barber shop because it’s bad work,” then who will do the work that needs to be done? People will be left without barbers.
Practically, for all work to function, the one who does the lower-level work deserves high wages. We need to encourage such people to earn through such means; otherwise, no one will take up that path. In such a context, if Prophetﷺ said taking wages is Haram or bad, he wouldn’t have said that.
There must have been a misunderstanding. We see that Prophetﷺ gave wages. Similarly, in Muslim, Ibn Abbas (RA) narrates. What does he say? When mentioning that Prophetﷺ gave wages to Abu Taibah, he said, “If it was bad, the Prophetﷺ would not have given wages.” This is in Muslim. The same is in Bukhari (Hadith 213) where Ibn Abbas says: “If it was Haram income, Prophetﷺ would not have given him wages.“
In Bukhari (2279), a different wording says: “If Prophetﷺ knew it was Makruh (disliked), he would not have given wages.” So, Ibn Abbas rejects the narrations that say it is bad earnings. On what basis does he reject them? Based on the fact that Prophetﷺ gave wages. If the earnings were Haram, then giving it would also be Haram, right? If taking a bribe is bad, giving a bribe is also bad. So, if that were the case, since Prophetﷺ gave wages, it is neither Haram nor Makruh, says Ibn Abbas.
Thinking about all this, the narration that the earnings of a cupper (Hajjam) are bad is definitely a false narration. Why? Because it implies that a person from the lower class should not be paid for his labour. He only knows cupping. His livelihood depends on it. If that earnings are called bad, how would his wife and children eat? Would he do it for free? Can anyone in the world do that? It wouldn’t be practical. That opinion is not practical.
Anyone who does any work cannot do it without receiving appropriate wages. Only by taking wages can he support his family. In such a situation, it is also a permissible profession. Otherwise, they would have forbidden cupping itself. If taking wages for a bad act is bad, then the act itself would also be bad, right? Then no one should do that work anymore. They should have forbidden anyone from doing cupping. But Prophetﷺ did not forbid it. It is a permissible act.
Would Allahﷻ permit an act and then say taking wages for it is Haram? How can Allahﷻ permit an act but say don’t take money for it? So, this is a permissible act. That’s why Prophetﷺ did it and also gave wages. That is practical. If not, then those who do such work would starve. If told to do it for free, they would either leave the work or die in poverty. Prophetﷺ would never say such a philosophy. We must understand that someone, due to a misunderstanding, narrated it incorrectly.