Question
I gave someone a gadget of mine to fix. They then told me to give R500 for the repairs. Then with that money they bought the parts which was needed for my gadget to be fixed. After several attempts at trying to fix it and it didn’t work. So the person then told me that your gadget can’t be fixed. My question is must I get back my money or I get half of the amount I paid and he takes half because of his time and labour?
Answer
There are two types of Employees in Shariah:
Ajeer-e-khaas: A person who works for a particular employer e.g. teacher, office worker, domestic worker, etc.
Ajeer-e-mushtarak: A person who offers his services to the public e.g. carpenter, cobbler, etc.
The case mentioned in the question is that of an Ajeer-e-mushtarak. An Ajeer-e-mushtarak gets paid for his service and not for his time. At times, an Ajeer-e-mushtarak structures his fee according to the time he puts in completing the job e.g. a plumber or electrician charging R100 per hour. However his prime duty is to complete the job that is assigned to him. In this case, since completing the electrical or plumbing job is the purpose for which he is hired and not his time, he will be regarded as an Ajeer-e-mushtarak.
The Shar’ee ruling with regard to an Ajeer-e-mushtarak is that he will only be entitled to receive a fee if he renders his service by completing the job assigned to him. If he does not render the required service, he will not be entitled to the fee.
Therefore, you are entitled to get your R500 back due to the fact that he did not render you the required service (of completing the repair job).
Checked and Approved By:
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.
References
(الأجراء
على ضربين: مشترك وخاص، فالأول من يعمل لا لواحد) كالخياط ونحوه (أو يعمل له
عملا غير مؤقت) كأن استأجره للخياطة في بيته غير مقيدة بمدة كان أجيرا مشتركا وإن
لم يعمل لغيره (أو موقتا بلا تخصيص) كأن استأجره ليرعى غنمه شهرا بدرهم كان
مشتركا، إلا أن يقول: ولا ترعى غنم غيري وسيتضح. وفي جواهر الفتاوى: استأجر حائكا
لينسج ثوبا ثم آجر الحائك نفسه من آخر للنسج صح كلا العقدين؛ لأن المعقود عليه
العمل لا المنفعة (ولا يستحق المشترك الأجر حتى يعمل كالقصار ونحوه) كفتال وحمال
ودلال وملاح…
ردالمحتار Pg:64/Vol:6