The First Means of Ownership Work (Amal)

• The term 'Amal (work) has a wide meaning encompassing numerous

types and forms and has various results, therefore the Shari’ah did
not leave the word 'Amal in its absolute form without definition. It
also did not define 'Amal in a general form but mentioned certain
specific forms of work. It demonstrated the types of work and those
that are accepted to be means of ownership.
 Conti………
• By examining the divine rules that describe work, it appears that the types
of legal work, which are a valid means of possessing property, are the
following:
• 1. Cultivation of unused (dead) land.
• 2. Extracting that which exists inside the earth, or in the air.
• 3. Hunting.
• 4. Brokerage (Samsara) and Commission Agency (Dilala).
• 5. Partnership of body and capital (Mudharaba).
• 6. Sharecropping (Musaqat).
• 7. Working for others for a wage.
 Cultivation of Barren Land: (Ihya ul-Mawat)
• Barren land (Mawat) is land, which has no owner, and nobody
benefits from it. Its cultivation means planting on it, afforestation or
building upon it. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said:
• "Whoever cultivated a dead land, it becomes his."
• "Whoever encircled a land by a fence it becomes his."
• "Whoever gets his hand over something ahead of any other Muslim,
it is his."
• There is no difference in this matter between the Muslim and the
Dhimmi (non-Muslim citizen of the Islamic State)
 Extraction of Earth’s Elements
• Another type of work is extracting that which exists inside the earth and
which is not one of the necessities of the community, namely the hidden
treasure (Rikaz). This is not a right for Muslims collectively. The one who
extracts a treasure possesses four-fifths of it and gives the other fifth as
Zakat.
• However if it was of the community necessities and a right for the Muslims
collectively, then it belongs to the public property.
• "The Prophet of Allah (SAW) was asked about Luqatah (a thing picked from
the ground) and he (SAW) said: 'If it was picked from a used road or an
inhabited village, you have to describe it and announce it for one year: If its
owner identified it, it is restored to him, otherwise it is yours. But if it was
not picked from a used road or an inhabited village, then you have to pay a
fifth of it and of the treasure (Rikaz).'"
 Hunting
• Another type of work is hunting. Fish, pearls, corals, sponges and
other prey are possessed by those who hunt them, as in the case of
birds, animals and other things hunted on land, which are also the
possession of those who hunt them. Allah (SWT) said:
• "Lawful to you is (the pursuit of) water-game and its use for food-for
the benefit of yourselves and those who travel, but prohibited is (the
pursuit of) land-game as long as you are in a state of Ihram." [Al-
Ma'idah: 96]
• "If you broke your State of Ihram you are allowed to hunt." [Al-
Ma'idah:2]
 Brokerage and Commission Agency (Samsara
and Dalala)
• A broker is a person who is employed by other people to buy and sell
on their behalf. A commission agent is employed in the same way.
• Abu Dawud, in his Sunan, related that Qais ibn Abu Ghurza al-Kanani
said: "We used to buy the Awsaq (loads or freight) in Madinah and
call ourselves brokers. The Messenger of Allah (SAW) came and called
us with a name that was better than ours. The Messenger of Allah
(SAW) said: "O you merchants, trading is usually blemished with
foolish talk and swearing, so blend it with Sadaqah (charity).“
 Joint Venture (Mudharaba)
• Joint Venture (Mudharaba) is where two persons (or more)
participate in trading, where the capital comes from one of them and
the work from the other. That is, the body of one person enters into
partnership with the funds of another person. This means that the
work will be carried out by one of them and the other will provide the
property.
• Example of Prophet SAW and Ami Khadija RA
• "Allah says: 'I am the third of the two partners unless one of them
betrays his companion, so if one of them betrays his companion I
withdraw from them.'" Reported by Abu Dawud.
 Share Cropping (Musaqat)
• One of the kinds of work is the Musaqat, where one person hands
over his trees to another person in order to irrigate them and tend to
them in return for a defined portion of their fruit. It was called
Musaqat (literally meaning irrigation) because it is related to the work
of irrigation, where the trees of the people of Hijaz mainly needed
irrigation for which they used to draw water from the wells. Muslim
has narrated that Abdullah ibn 'Umar (ra) said:
• "The Prophet of Allah (SAW) contracted the people of Khaybar over
half of what they produce of fruit crops and plants."
 Employing an Employee (Worker)
• Islam allowed the individual to employ employees and labourers i.e.
workers to work for him. Allah (SWT) said:
• "It is We who portion out between them their livelihood in this world, and
We raised some of them above others in ranks so that some may employ
others in their work...." [Az-Zukhruf: 32]
• "The Messenger of Allah (SAW) and Abu Bakr hired a man from Bani ad-
Deel as an experienced guide when he was of the same deen as the kuffar
of Quraish. They handed to him their two female riding camels, and fixed
an appointment with him to meet them at the cave of Thawr after three
nights, at the morning of the third night with their two camels.“
• Allah (SWT) also said: “And if they (the mothers) suckled for you, give them
their wages" [At-Talaq: 6].
 The Work of the Employee (Worker)
• Hiring involves utilising the benefit of the hired thing. With regard to
the worker, hiring is utilising his effort. It is necessary in hiring a
worker, to define the work, the period of work, the wage and the
effort. The work has to be defined so as not to become unknown,
because hiring based on unknown work is invalid (Fasid). It is also
necessary to define the period of work, such as daily, monthly or
yearly. Similarly, the wage of the worker has to be defined. Ibn
Mas'oud said: The Prophet (SAW) said: "If any one of you employed a
worker then he has to inform him of his wage“
• "Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope." [AlBaqarah: 286]
 Conti………
• Allah (SWT) said:
• "The duty of feeding and clothing and nursing mothers in a seemly
manner is upon the father of the child." [Al-Baqarah: 233]
• Saying of the Prophet in the Hadith Qudsi: "There are three persons
of whom I am their opponent on the Day of Judgement: A man who
gave (a word) in my name then he deceived, a man who sold a free
person and devoured his price, and a man who hired a worker where
he received (the work) from him in full and did not give him his wage"
 The Ruling Regarding Hiring Over Prohibited
Benefits
• In order that hiring is legally valid, the benefit must be permitted (Halal) in
nature. So the employee should not be hired for doing something, which is
prohibited. AtTirmidhi narrated from Anas ibn Malik, who said:
• "The Messenger of Allah (SAW) cursed ten types of people regarding
alcohol: its presser, the one who asks for it to be pressed, its drinker, its
carrier, the one to whom it is carried, the one who serves it, its seller, the
one for whom it is sold, its purchaser and the one for whom it is
purchased."
• If a person is not legally allowed to perform a work for oneself then he is
not allowed to be an employee to do it, and he is not allowed to be hired
to do it.
 The Ruling of Hiring Non-Muslims
• With regard to the employer and the employee, it is not a condition
for either of them to be a Muslim. So a Muslim is absolutely allowed
to hire a non-Muslim, by the evidence of the action of the Prophet
(SAW) and the consensus of the Sahabah at the hire of non-Muslims
in any allowed (Mubah) action, including the works of the State. The
Prophet (SAW) hired a Jew as a clerk, and another Jew as an
interpreter, and al-Bukhari reported in his Sahih that the Prophet
hired a polytheist (Mushrik) as a guide.
• So the Muslims also is allowed to be hired by a non Muslim to work
for him. This must not include work where a Muslim is being
subjugated to the Kafir in order for him to be humiliated.
 Hiring someone to perform Worships and
Public Services
• Hiring someone to perform Public Services in allowed in permissible
cases. But as for the worships, whether they are Fard or Nafilah, they
have to be examined. If their benefit does not extend to other than
the person who performs them, such as performing the pilgrimage for
himself, and paying his own Zakat, then he is not allowed to receive a
wage for it because the wage is a recompense for a benefit and there
is no benefit in these matters for other than himself.