My wife and her colleagues contracted with a driver to take them to their school for a fixed amount under an absolute contract. Is it obligatory for them to pay that driver’s wage on holiday days?

The questioner : A questioner says, O honorableThe Shaykh : My wife and her colleagues contracted with a driver to take them to their school for a fixed amount under an absolute contract. Is it obligatory for them to pay that driver’s wage on holiday days?

The Shaykh : The answer to this is that it is not appropriate to give a specific ruling here. However, we must clarify what we see to be the truth, if Allah wills. If there is a condition between the car owner and the women hiring him, then they must follow what they agreed upon. In other words, if the driver stipulated that they pay him for holidays, such as festival holidays and term breaks, then they must follow that stipulation. This is based on the saying of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: . The command to fulfill contracts is a command to fulfill the original contract and the conditions of the contract, meaning what is stipulated in the contract. If there is no condition between them, it reverts to the custom and practice of the people: is it customary for the driver to be paid on holiday days or not? They must follow the custom. If the custom varies, the default is that he is not entitled to payment except on school days. Nevertheless, I am a mufti and not a binding authority. If the car owner says, “I must be paid for all months, including holidays,” then the court is the one that rules between them. Therefore, I say that the women who hire someone to transport them on school days should write in the contract that he has no right to payment on holiday days, so that there is no ambiguity. Yes.