The Prophet (ﷺ) said: The earnings of a cupper are impure, the price paid for a dog is impure, and the hire paid to a prostitute is impure.
Hadith Commentary - Sunan Abi Dawud 3421
From the Book of Wages (Kitab Al-Ijarah), this hadith addresses the prohibition of certain types of earnings that are considered unlawful (haram) in Islamic law.
Scholarly Explanation of Prohibited Earnings
The scholars explain that these three categories are prohibited due to the impure nature of the services rendered. The cupper's earnings were considered impure in early Islam due to certain juristic opinions about blood, though later scholars differed on this ruling.
The price of a dog is forbidden except for specific permitted purposes like hunting, guarding livestock, or farming, as established in other authentic narrations.
The earnings of prostitution are unanimously considered impure and unlawful by all Muslim scholars, as this profession involves zina (unlawful sexual relations), which is among the major sins in Islam.
Legal Implications
Imam Nawawi and other classical scholars clarify that wealth acquired through these means cannot be used for lawful purposes, charity, or religious obligations. Such earnings must be disposed of and not retained.
The wisdom behind these prohibitions is to purify society from harmful practices and to encourage Muslims to seek lawful (halal) sustenance through permissible means of livelihood.