Man is a social being so, food, dress, shelter, education and healthcare etc. are his basic needs as well as rights. Every day man has been working to secure these and no man on earth can do all his works alone. In Islam, labour is considered a virtuous deed and obligatory upon all able bodied person in society. In the age of industrialization every individual has got to look up to others to maintain him. One individual works under another in all levels of society. So, one becomes an employer and other his employee. The basis for higher wages should be skills, qualifications and performance. Islam has guaranteed rights of men and women in an equal degree and there is no discrimination between men and women. Islam warns against unemployment, and encourages labour and making efforts, and walking in the planet in pursuit of halal livelihood. It also considers this quest as worship and Jihad for the sake of Allah. The Prophets worked various jobs and crafts such as Shepherding: Abu Hurayrah narrated the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said “Allah did not send a Prophet except that the Prophet tended sheep.” His Companions asked: “Even you?” He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, replied: “Even me, I used to tend to sheep for the people of Makkah in exchange for some Qiraat (parts of a Dirham or Deenaar) Smithery: Allah The Almighty Says (what means): And We certainly gave David from Us bounty. (We said), ‘O mountains, repeat (Our) praises with him, and the birds (as well).’ And We made pliable for him iron. (Commanding him), ‘Make full coats of mail and calculate (precisely) the links, and work (all of you) righteousness. Indeed I, of what you do, am Seeing.’ (Quran: 34:10-1i) Carpentry: Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wasallam, said narration is that being a carpenter is not an affront to manhood, rather, is a noble trade. It also reflects the virtue of Prophet Zachariah who would eat from his own earnings. Laziness and not working even though one is able is censured and blameworthy, and that is why the Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, did not specify anything for a lazy unemployed person. This would push them to work to earn lawful earnings, and he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “Charity is not lawful to be given to a rich person, a strong person, or someone who is healthy. Abdullaah ibn Mas`ood said: “I detest a man who sits idle without any work for the worldly life or for the Hereafter.” The Arab proverb says, “Dig a well, overflow a well, and do not leave an employee to be idle.” Meaning, you should put young men to work and get them used to working, and get them used to not taking money without something in return, even if you must put them to work at something that is useless, but in the end, getting them used to working and being serious and avoiding idleness is a beneficial thing. Holy Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) also worked as a wage earner. He was asked, “Which type of income is the best and pure?” He replied, “The earning by one’s hands as well as that earned by honestly dealing (trade).” (Baihaqi). Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri (Ra.) narrated that the Prophet (Pbuh) said, “Whoever employs someone to work for him, he must specify for him his wage in advance.” (Musannaf ‘Abdur-Razzaaq). Similar Hadeeths were also narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah (Ra.) in his Musannaf on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (Ra.). Abu Hurayrah (Ra.) narrated that the Prophet (Pbuh) said, “Allaah said, ‘I will be the opponent of three on the Day of Judgment: One who makes a covenant in My name and then breaks it; one who sells a free man as a slave and devours his price and one who hires a workman and having taken full work from him, does not pay him his wages.’” (Bukhari). The Islamic rules and regulations for employer and employee falls in following categories: (a) Common rules and regulations for both employer and employee: (i) Justice and Fair Dealing: Employer needs to ensure justice by fulfilling his obligations to the employee and employee needs to ensure justice by fulfilling his obligations to employer. Allah said: “ O YOU WHO BELIEVE STAND FIRMLY FOR JUSTICE” (Quran : Surah 4 Verse 135) Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) said: “ One who exercise his authority and power unjust way will not enter Paradise” (Ahmed , Ibn Majah, Tirmidi) (ii) Employment Contract: Employment contract between employer and employee must be made and agreed by both. Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) said: “Employer must declare the wages to worker before the worker embark on the required work” (Baihaqi) Once the contract is signed, it is the duty of both employer and employee to respect contractual terms. • Allah Said “O YOU WHO BELIEVE FULFILL YOUR CONTRACT” (Quran : Surah 5 Verse.1) (iii) CONSULTATION: Employer and employee should sit together time to time to discuss and exchange ideas for business growth and also to solve if there is any problem between both party. Allah Said: “AND THEIR BUSINESS IS CONDUCTED THROUGH CONSULTATION” (Quran: Surah 42, Verse 38) (iv) SECURITY: Employer must protect employee from hunger by giving his wages and providing security of job and employee must provide business security of his employer by saving from losses. Allah Said: “ LET THEM ADORE THE LORD OF HIS HOUSE WHO PRIVIDES THEM FOOD AGAINST HUNGER AND SECURITY AGAINST FEAR (DANGER)” (Quran Surah 106, verses 3&4) (v) HONESTY: Employer and employee both must be honest to each other. Cheating and deception from both sides are not allowed in Islam. Employee should not cheat at work and work less while he takes full salary. On the other hand employer should not cheat in paying less while employee work in full. Allah Said: “WOE TO THOSE THAT DEAL IN FRAUD, THOSE WHO WHEN THEY HAVE TO RECEIVE BY MEASURE FROM MEN, EXACT FULL MEASURE. BUT WHEN THEY HAVE TO GIVE BY MEASURE OR WEIGHT TO MEN GIVE LESS THAN DUE” (Quran: Surah 83, Verses 1 to 7) (b) Specific rules and regulations for employer: (I) Give wages of employee at agreed time: Remember delay may cause difficulty to the employee, may be he will not have money to buy food and other basic necessities.
“There should be no harm against the employer or the employee. Islam has a set of basic rules and regulations for employer and employee to run their affairs. Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) practiced and also taught these people during his time. He founded a society where employer and employee enjoyed benefits of these basic rules. These basic rules still exists as milestone not only in Muslim nation but also adopted by many other nations and organizations.”
Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) Said: “Give the wages of employee before his sweat dry” (Ibn Majah, Hadith no. 2468) (ii) Wages should be in right amount: Employer should pay the right amount as agreed. Unlawful deduction is not permissible in Islamic religion. Allah Said: “ DO NOT WITHHOLD FROM THE PEOPLE THE THINGS THAT ARE THEIR DUE” (Quran: Surah 7: Verse 85) (iii) Work Load: Do not give employee workload more than his ability. If work load is heavy help him. Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) said: “Do not give them workload more than their ability. If workload is heavy help them” “People work under you also Human being like you do not throw them into misery and suffering” (Targib & Tarhib, Ibn Habban) (iv) WORK PLACE: Safe work place, food, drink and uniforms at the time of work must be provided. Prophet Mohammed said: “ Food Drinks and Cloths are the right of people working under you” (Ibn Habban) (v) Make the Work Easy: Make the work easy for the employee, provide training, tools and equipments as needed. Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) Said: “The more you make work easy for your employee, the more you will be rewarded by Allah” (Targib & Tarhib) (vi) Behavior: Behave well with your employee. Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) Said: “One of the actions that will be beneficial in your life after death is your good behavior with people working under you” (Ahmed, Ibn Majah, Trimidi) (vii) Employee’s Welfare: General welfare of the employee is a moral responsibility of employer. Allah Said: “DO GOOD TO THOSE WHOM YOUR RIGHT HAND POSSESS (WORKER)” (Quran: Surah 4, Verse: 37) Among good deeds education and health care are most important. (viii) Respect, dignity and kindness to the employee: It is the duty of employer to ensure through his managers, supervisors, the respect and dignity of employees irrespective of their position. Allah has glorified shepherds, farmers, carpenters, blacksmiths by choosing his prophets from them. Prophet Adam was farmer, Prophet Noah was carpenter, Prophet Daud was blacksmith, Prophet Musa was shepherd. Prophet Mohammed (peace upon him) said: “I worked as shepherd for small wages” So it is the responsibility of employer to make sure his employees at lower level is not mistreated. Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) said : “One who mistreat those under him wll not enter Paradise” (Tirmidi) (c ) Specific rules and regulations for employee: Islam considers “Work” as “ Worship”. A workman is benefitted for his work is this world and after life. It is our duty to go out and engage in work for earning livelihood. Allah Said: “ THEN WHEN THE PRAYER IS ENDED, YOU MAY DESPERSE THROUGH THE LAND AND SEEK THE BOUNTY OF ALLAH (BY WORKING) AND REMEMBER ALLAH MUCH, THAT YOU MAY BE SUCCESSFUL” (Quran: Surah 62, Verse 10) While working under an employer the following obligations to employer need due attention: (i) Employee is required to do his job in best possible manner and to the best perfection for the welfare of his employer (ii) Employee should be loyal to employer and work for the welfare of the employer. (iii) Employee needs to fulfill obligations to his employer. (iv) Employee must not neglect his work nor harm employer whether he sees or not. He should work sincerely and take care of property of the employer. (v) Employee needs to maintain work place safe, clean and hygienic. (vi) Employee should take up his/her job in the spirit of worship for the satisfaction of Allah. (d) Arbitration: Allah All-knower” know that inspite of everything is clear about the obligations of employer and employee, human error might occur. In this situation people sometime fails to resolve dispute among themselves. For this situation “Allah” made system of Arbitration. “Judiciary system” needs to be in place to resolve any unresolved issues between “ employer and employee” God fearing impartial judges shall be appointed to judge both party and give verdict. Judgment should be honest and impartial; no matter rich or poor, employer or employee. Allah Said: “AND IF TWO GROUPS OF BELEIVERS FALL TO FIGHTING THEN MAKE PEACE BETWEEN THEM” (Quran: surah 49 Verse 9) Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him) said: “The people before you were destroyed because they used to inflict the legal punishment on the poor and forgive the rich” (Albhukari, Volume 8, book 88 No.778). Islamic principles stated above are balanced way to ensure welfare of both employee and employer on the basis of Justice. Employer’s money and employee’s labour both together bring lot of benefits for many people also. These benefits are not only for Muslims but for all. It is the responsibility of the Muslim nation to do welfare for the entire humanity. Allah Said: “ YOU ARE THE GREAT NATION. YOU ARE CREATED FOR THE WELFARE OF MANKIND. YOU ORDER PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT AND STOP WRONG DOING” (Quran “ SuraH 3, Verse 110) . In brief , Islam teaches fulfilling the rights of everyone including workers and laborers. In the world, some people are bosses and some are workers. Boss has no superiority over the worker and is supposed to treat the worker like his/her own brother/sister. Islam has encouraged decent dealing with subordinates. Allah says: “You behave courteously with your parents. Deal decently with your near relatives, orphans, the needy (beggars) and also be kind to your neighbours, friends and fellows, travellers and your subordinates.” (Sura: Nisa, Ayat: 36). We come across an excellent example of decent relationship between the employer and the employee in the life of Hazrat Anus (Ra.) as he says, “I have served Rasulullah (Pbuh) for ten years, he never uttered ‘Uh’ to me and never scolded me saying why did not you do this or why did you do this? He used to help me more often with his own hands.” (Bukhari). Hence, the employer who hire workers then delay their wages for a month or two or three must fear Allah. Abdullaah Ibn ‘Umar (Ra.) narrated that the Prophet (Pbuh) said, “Pay the labourer his wages before his sweat dries.” Moreover, the employer has no right to force the worker to do more work or work longer than the time they agreed on, provided that the worker has the ability to do what they agreed on. On the other hand, the worker must satisfy the conditions between him and the employer in what is not prohibited under Shari‘ah. Al-Bayhaqi and Abu Ya‘la (Ra.) narrated on the authority of Aa’ishah (Ra.) that the Prophet (Pbuh), said, “Verily, Allah loves that when anyone of you does something he does it perfectly.” Finally, we can conclude by mentioning the great rule that the Prophet (Pbuh) stated in a Hadeeth: “There should be neither harm nor reciprocal harm.” (Ahmad) Hence, there should be no harm against the employer or the employee. Islam has a set of basic rules and regulations for employer and employee to run their affairs. Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon him) practiced and also taught these people during his time. He founded a society where employer and employee enjoyed benefits of these basic rules. These basic rules still exists as milestone not only in Muslim nation but also adopted by many other nations and organizations. May Allah (SWT) guide us all in the right path. Ameen …
(The authors write regularly on Islamic topics exclusively for the opinion pages of “Kashmir Horizon”. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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