I work as a salesperson in a store, and the owner of the store delays paying my salary significantly, sometimes for more than three months, and I am responsible for my family in my country, and he

The questioner : He says in this question: I work in one of the small private institutions, and I work as a salesperson in a store, and I bear the responsibility for it, because the owner of the store delays paying my salary for more than three months. He knows well that I bear the responsibility for a family in my country, and yet he does not care, which forces me to take amounts of money from the funds in my custody so that I can commit to spending on my family in my country. I take less than what is my right with him, to cover part of the delayed wages he owes. The question is: Is this permissible for me?

The Shaykh : It is not permissible for a person to take from the money of another, even if that person owes him, except with his permission. This is because the original ruling regarding the money of another is that it is forbidden and respected, as Allah the Exalted said: However, we offer sincere advice to your guarantor for whom you are working, and we warn him against delaying the rights of the workers, because delaying their rights is injustice. A person does not increase in it except in sin, and his wealth does not increase in it except in failure and loss. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And injustice is darkness on the Day of Resurrection. It is astonishing that these guarantors who delay the rights of the workers under their care know with certainty that they have not paid these workers their wages twice. Why do they delay them? Does delaying imply that something should be deducted from the workers' wages? Let them fear Allah the Exalted regarding these people who left their countries and their families for the sake of a livelihood, and then these guarantors delay them. This is harm in two ways: the first is the delay, and the second is that these workers have families in their countries who are in need of spending. Will these workers remain harmed because their families did not pay their expenses due to the guarantor who delayed their rights? And glory be to Allah, how do these guarantors accept delaying these poor workers and postponing their wages to two or three months or more, while if a worker reduced his work by even a little, they would punish him for it? Indeed, a people whose conduct is such are included in the saying of Allah the Exalted: We ask Allah for guidance, success, and good for all Muslims.

The questioner : May Allah bless you, O honorable Shaykh.