Granting prizes for memorizing the Qur'an

Q 2: The people in charge of Qur'an memorization lessons at a charitable school give prizes as incentives. They reward the students with tapes of scholars' lectures or a Mus-haf (copy of the Qur'an) to encourage them to memorize the Qur'an. What is the ruling on such gifts? It is worth mentioning that some people claim that students only memorize the Qur'an for the sake of gaining these prizes, and this leads to not being sincere to Allah with regard to their intention. Please advise, may Allah reward you the best.

A: It is permissible to offer monetary prizes to students to encourage them to memorize the Qur'an. However, the students' attention should be directed to the necessity of making their intentions sincerely for the Sake of Allah with regard to memorizing the Qur'an, with the knowledge that prizes come as a consequence. Accordingly, receiving these gifts should not be the reason for memorizing the Qur'an.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.