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Prohibitions in Islam - Page 28

example of this is the action of some bosses who bring workers from their homelands with a contract to pay a certain wage. Once the people are committed and have started to work for him, he goes and changes the contracts, altering them to state a lower wage than the one actually agreed upon. The employees stay because they have no choice and have no proof of their rights; all they can do is complain to Allah. If the employer is a Muslim and the employee is not, this lowering of wages is a way of turning people away from the Straight Path, and he will carry his sin.

Making the employee do extra work or put in longer hours, without paying him overtime or giving him any more than the basic salary.

Some bosses delay payment of wages and pay up only after much struggle, complaining, chasing and court cases. Their aim may be to make the employee give up his claim to his rightful wages and stop asking; or they may want to invest this money, perhaps by lending it for interest. Meanwhile, the poor employee cannot buy his daily bread or send anything home to his needy wife and children for whose sake he left to work overseas. Woe to those oppressors on that painful Day! Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Allah says: ‘There are three whom I will oppose on the Day of Resurrection: a man who gives his word, swearing by Me, then breaks it, a man who sells a free man into slavery and keeps the money, and a man who hires another and benefits from his labor, then does not pay him his wages.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari, see Fath Al-Bari, 4/447).

Not giving gifts equally to one’s children

Some people show favoritism in the way they give gifts to some of their children but not others. According to the soundest opinion, doing this is haram unless there is some legitimate reason, such as one child being in greater need than the others due to sickness, being in debt, being rewarded for having memorized the entire Qur’aan, being unable to find a job, having a large family, being a full-time student, etc. When a father gives something to one of his children who is in need, he should have the intention to give similarly to any other children of his should the need arise. General proof of this principle may be seen in the aayah (interpretation of the meaning): “Be just: that is nearer to piety, and fear Allah” [Al-Ma’eda 5:8]. Specific evidence is found in the report of Al-Nu’maan Ibn Basheer (may Allah be pleased with him), whose father brought him to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: “I have given this son of mine a slave that I had.” The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked him, “Did you give all your children a similar gift?” He said, “No.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Then take (the gift) back.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari, see Al-Fath, 5/211). According to another report, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Fear Allah and be fair to your children,” so he went away and took his gift back. (Al Fath 5/211). According to a third report, he said, “Do not ask me to be a witness, for I will not bear witness to injustice.” (Sahih Muslim, 3/1243). Sons may be given twice as much as daughters, as in the case of inheritance, according to Imam Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him (Abu Dawood, Masaa’il Al-Imam Ahmad, 204; Imam Ibn Al- Qayyim explained this in more detail in his footnotes).