The Sunday Guardian | October 19, 2025

According to Al-Bukhari, God said: “I will become a claimant against three persons, one of them being a person who engaged a labourer, made him labour fully, but did not pay the wages” (Sahih Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2227).

Ibn Majah has narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar that the Prophet of Islam observed: “Pay the labourer his wages before his sweat dries up” (that is, do not delay payment) (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith No. 2443).

In this world, it often happens that one person employs another. In all such matters Islam enjoins the full payment of wages without any delay. After getting the work done, asking the labourer to come the next day for payment is extremely inconsiderate, and as such Islam forbids it.

Just as an employer needs the services of an employee, so also does the employee need compensation for his labour. This is a two-sided demand. When the worker has finished his work, it becomes incumbent on the employer to refrain from placing any obstacle in the way of payment of the sum he has promised.

In cases where wages or compensation have not been fixed in advance, Islam demands that for all services rendered, requital should be made in one form or another. If this cannot be done, for any reason, in material terms, the services should be fully acknowledged and publicly commended, and prayers should be offered to God for the person who performed the services for better readability.

Paying immediate recompense on completion of a task increases mutual trust in society. Any practice contrary to this will cause society as a whole to fall prey to misgivings about a lack of trustworthiness in their fellow men.

Source: Simple Wisdom