The Islamic Personality by Sheikh Taqīuddīn An-Nabahānī

Hiring is known as being a contract upon benefit for compensation. This contract comes in three types:

Firstly: A type coming upon the benefits of things like hiring houses, animals, vehicles and the like. The contract is performed upon the benefit of the thing.

Secondly: A type coming upon the benefits of work like painting, engineering, building and the like. What is contracted upon is the benefit of the work.

Thirdly: A type coming upon the benefits of persons like servants, labourers and the like. What is contracted upon is the benefit of the effort of the person.

In these three types, what was contracted upon was the benefit in each one of them. So the thing upon which the contract occurred is the benefit. The money mentioned is the exchange for this benefit. Hence the basis upon which estimating the wage is based is the benefit given by this thing or this work or that person. It is not in relation to the value of the thing worked upon or its price nor his productivity in relation to the employee just as is not paying for the needs of the employee. Thus there does not enter the elevation of the living standard, or its lowering, in estimating it. It is not valid to return estimating the wage to the value of the thing or its price or the worker’s productivity or fulfilment of his needs; nor does raising or lowering the living standard enter into its estimation. Its estimation returns to only one thing which is the benefit since it is a benefit upon benefit for compensation. The wage is estimated according to the measure of benefit upon which the hiring contract occurred. During difference (of opinion) over the amount of wage, it is not estimated by evidence and proof as there is no role for evidence therein since it does not require proving the wage. Rather, knowing its amount and its estimation is by the estimation of two experts in the benefit over which the benefit occurs, and two experts in the estimation of its compensation.

This is in relation to the aspect of the basis of the wage, or in other words the unit upon which estimating the wage occurs. As for the aspect of its difference, it differs according to difference of the benefit in persons and in one job and different jobs, and in the time and place, The wage of workers over whom the contract came over the benefits of their persons will differ according to the effort which they expend, so the wage is estimated as so much for the strong and so much for the weak; and so much wage for so many hours of work. For more hours a higher pay and for lesser hours, lesser pay and so on. The estimation of wage for one job over which the contract of hiring was formed based on the the benefit of work by a specific amount, and it will differ between the persons who perform this work according to the difference of their expertise therein like engineers for example. So the engineer will be given a particular wage, and it will differ between engineers by the difference of the expertise. Similarly is the estimation of the wage for different jobs according to the benefit intended therein during the hiring of those working therein i.e. the producers. The wage for these jobs will differ by the difference of their benefit in the society so the engineer’s wage will be a particular amount, the builder’s wage a particular amount and so on. The estimation of the wage of the people in one job or different jobs at different times is estimated differently at different times. For example, the worker at night is given more than the worker working during daytime in the same job. Similarly the estimation of the wage for people takes place, for one job and for different jobs differently on one place than in another place. For example the worker in the desert is given more than the worker doing the same job in the city and so on. And it is permitted to estimate the wage temporarily by a specific time like hourly, daily, monthly and annually.