What are the Duties of an Imaam And how much should he be Paid?

Q: Salaah-382: What do the Ulema and Muftis have to say about making an Imaam sweep the Masjid, call out the Adhaan, clean the taps and do other sundry duties when paying him only for leading the salaah? Is it permissible to take so much work from him for so meagre a wage? What are the duties of an Imaam in the might of the Shari'ah? What should the wage be of an Imaam of a Masjid? Will the people of a locality be sinful for paying an Imaam any less than the minimum wage? Please reply in detail.

Answer: A Hadith states, "Pay the worker before his sweat dries. Rasulullaah (SAW.) also stated that he would personally bring charges against three persons on the Day of Qiyaamah. One of these would be the one who employed another and failed tb pay him in full despite the fact that the worker completed the work delegated to him.
Not paying the worker in full refers also to not paying the person the wage that ought to be paid for the job in question by taking advantage of his desperation. The Fuqahaa have stated that a person should be paid according to his need, his competence and the degree of his piety and righteousness. lf anything less is paid, Allaah will be there to take reckoning. The trustees of Masaajid and Madrassahs should therefore look at this and the amount people are normally paid for the job and then decide on an amount.

When an Imaam for leading the salaah and then given the jobs of calling out the Adhaan, cleaning the taps and doing other sundry duties is not only oppressive, but demeaning. Rasulullaah SAW. said, "Honour the bearer of the Qur'aan because whoever honours him has honoured me. In another narration, Rasulullaah SAW. said, "The bearer of the Qur'aan is the flag bearer of Islaam. Whoever honours him has honoured Allaah and Allaah's curse is on the one who demeans him". And Allaah knows best what is most correct.

Fatawa Rahimiyyah vol.2