Wages for a Laborer
Its Definition
Linguistically it means a wage given to someone for something he does. In Islamic terminology it means that a person who is permitted to carry out transactions allots a fixed amount of wealth to someone who performs a specific job, whether the person is known or unknown. For example, he says, “I will pay him such and such amount to anyone who erects this wall for me.” Therefore, whoever erects the wall for him, will deserves the wage, whether it is small or large amount.
Its Ruling
Giving a reward to a laborer is permissible. This is due to Allah’s (SWT) statement:
(And for him who produces it is (the reward of) a camel load, and I will be bound by it.) (12: 72)
The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said to those Companions who earned a flock of sheep as a reward for reciting some Divine Prayers over the chief of a tribe, who was stung by a scorpion:
“Take what you have earned and assign a share for me as well.” (Some of this Hadith was recorded by Al-Bukhari in the Book of Renting)
Its Regulations
The regulations of rewarding a laborer are as follows:
1) Giving a wage to a worker is a permissible contract. Therefore, it is permissible for both contractual parties to cancel the deal. If the cancelation takes place before starting the job, there is nothing payable to the worker. If it is during the work, the worker has the right to a wage according to his work.
2) It is not required to make a condition to fix the working period. If one says, “If anyone returns my fugitive, straggling or lost animal back, he will get one dinar.” This means that he deserves the dinar upon returning the said animal to him even after one month or one year.
3) If a group of workers perform the job, the wage should divided equally among them.
4) It is not permissible to allot the wage for workers in order to commit any forbidden job. Therefore, it is unlawful to say, “If anyone sings, or plays a flute, or beats a person or abuses him, he will get such and such.”
5) If anyone returns the lost and found articles, or returns lost animals or does a job not knowing there is reward in it, he is not entitled to the reward. This is because at the very outset, his service was voluntary. Therefore, he holds no right to the reward except in case of returning the fugitive slave, or rescuing the drowned. In that case, he should be given the reward as an incentive for such an endeavor.
6) If someone says, “Whoever eats or drinks such and such lawful things, he will get a wage of such and such,” such a reward is valid. However, if he says, “Whoever eats such and such and leaves any of it, he must give such and such, “this type of wage is invalid.
7) If the owner and worker dispute about the amount of the wage, the statement of the owner should be accepted by swearing. If a dispute arises about the wage itself (i.e. what it is, money or food etc.) the worker’s claim should be accepting by his swearing.