What is the ruling on a guarantor who allows a worker to work for others in addition to his contracted work, takes a portion of his wages, and gives him his agreed-upon wage?

The questioner : A man brought in a worker to work for him in herding. This guarantor took over the work, meaning he saw that the work assigned to this worker was little, so he engaged him in many jobs. Among them, he contracted with some resort owners to clean their resorts, or he would lay carpets in some mosques and clean them for a salary. When he first brought in this worker, he negotiated a salary of, for example, six hundred riyals. At the end of the month, this worker works in the mosques and some resorts, and does temporary work, such as bringing in sand or other things. So at the end of the month, he earns approximately one thousand riyals. Then he takes six hundred riyals from this thousand and gives it to the worker, and he takes four hundred riyals and puts them in his pocket, even though this worker does work for him in addition to the other tasks he is assigned. He says that he is content, meaning he asked him and he said he is content. So this worker, O esteemed Shaykh, takes the salary from there, and his guarantor also takes what is in excess of his salary. What is the ruling on this action, O esteemed Shaykh?

The Shaykh : As long as the worker is content with that without coercion, there is no harm. Even if the worker said, "I work for you for free," without coercion, there is no harm in that. But if it is with coercion, such as saying to him, "Either you do this extra work beyond what was agreed in the contract, or you leave," then that is not permissible. Rather, it is obligatory for him to stick to what they agreed upon previously. Do you understand?

The questioner : Yes, very well, O esteemed Shaykh, regarding the excess over the salary?

The Shaykh : There is no objection to the excess going to the guarantor, as long as he is content with that.