The Ruling on Delaying the Wages of Workers and Servants
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this is always Abu Ali. He asks that Shaykh Salih (may Allah preserve him and grant him piety) provide guidance on this question. He says: Some people in this life fall short in paying their servants and workers. You see them sometimes stalling and sometimes delaying. These people need this money to send it to their families and relatives, and they also delay in paying their salaries. We ask for guidance on this matter. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Yes, this is an important question, and it must be pointed out for the benefit of all listeners, because some people bring in workers, servants, and drivers, and they are slow or stall in paying their wages. This is forbidden. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Pay the worker his wage before his sweat dries." Especially if this worker is in need and his family is in need, if he stalls with it and delays his right, he has wronged him and his family. It is obligatory for these people to fear Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and to give these people their rights, and not to diminish any of it, and not to delay it, and not to stall with it as long as they are able. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, is it necessary that repentance be after a good deed, for example after an 'Umrah or Hajj, or after standing in prayer in Ramadan? The obligatory thing is that a person should repent in every state, in every moment, and in any place.[An-Nisa 4:17] And Allah the Exalted said: [Ali 'Imran 3:135] for their sins, then they follow it with good deeds, they follow the repentance with good deeds, so they repent from the bad deeds and turn away from them, and they follow them with good deeds, [Al-Furqan 25:71], and this is evidence of its sincerity, and they follow it with good deeds, evidence of its sincerity, and a purifier for it, and a remover of its effects, and they follow the bad deed with a good deed, which erases it. Yes. May Allah reward you, and may He bless you.
Honorable Shaykh, this is always Abu Ali. He asks that Shaykh Salih (may Allah preserve him and grant him piety) provide guidance on this question. He says: Some people in this life fall short in paying their servants and workers. You see them sometimes stalling and sometimes delaying. These people need this money to send it to their families and relatives, and they also delay in paying their salaries. We ask for guidance on this matter. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Answer:
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. Yes, this is an important question, and it must be pointed out for the benefit of all listeners, because some people bring in workers, servants, and drivers, and they are slow or stall in paying their wages. This is forbidden. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Pay the worker his wage before his sweat dries." Especially if this worker is in need and his family is in need, if he stalls with it and delays his right, he has wronged him and his family. It is obligatory for these people to fear Allah the Mighty and Majestic, and to give these people their rights, and not to diminish any of it, and not to delay it, and not to stall with it as long as they are able. This questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, is it necessary that repentance be after a good deed, for example after an 'Umrah or Hajj, or after standing in prayer in Ramadan? The obligatory thing is that a person should repent in every state, in every moment, and in any place.
The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance [or carelessness] and then repent soon after. It is those to whom Allah will turn in forgiveness
إِنَّمَا التَّوْبَةُ عَلَى اللَّهِ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السُّوءَ بِجَهَالَةٍ ثُمَّ يَتُوبُونَ مِن قَرِيبٍ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَتُوبُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْAnd those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواAnd he who repents and does righteousness does indeed turn to Allah with [accepted] repentance.
وَمَن تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَإِنَّهُ يَتُوبُ إِلَى اللَّهِ مَتَابًا
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/229 — archive.org (0:51)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.