The Muslim community and the labour movement share the common goals of social justice, economic fairness, and fair treatment in the workplace. In fact, the history of Islam is rooted in a firm stand against economic exploitation. When Prophet Muhammad, may Allah be pleased with Him, began preaching Islam in Mecca, it shook up an unjust economic structure that allowed the rich to take advantage of the poor. Before Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) departed, he left behind The Holy Qur’an, a book filled with guidance on how men and women should treat each other in various situations, including the workplace. Food, dress, shelter, education and healthcare etc. are basic rights of man. Man has been working every day to secure these. Man is a social being. No man on earth can do all his works alone. In the age of industrialisation every individual has got to look up to others to maintain him. One individual works under another in all levels of society. So, one becomes an employer and other his employee. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH) also worked as a wage earner. He was asked, “‘Which type of income is the best and pure?’ He replied, ‘The earning by one’s hands as well as that earned by honestly dealing (trade).’” (Baihaqi). Abu Sa‘eed Al-Khudri (Ra) narrated that the Prophet said, “Whoever employs someone to work for him, he must specify for him his wage in advance.” (Musannaf ‘Abdur-Razzaq). We come across an excellent example of decent relationship between the employers and the employee in the life of Hazrat Anus (Ra). He says, “I have served Rasulullah ( PBUH) for ten years, he never uttered ‘Uh! to me and never scolded me saying why did not you do this, why did you do this? He used to help me more often then not with his own hands.” (Bukhari).
Relationship between employee and employer
Responsibilities of Employers and Employees on Each Other Islam teachings provide guidelines to both employers and employees to avoid exploitation of any of the two parties and to positively impact their relationships as Islam gives utmost importance to relationships. This is evident from the following saying of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH): Shall I not inform you of what is more virtuous than the rank of fasting, Salãt (prayer), and charity? They said: “But of course!” He said: “Making peace between each other”. For indeed spoiling relations with each other is the Haliqah. I do not speak of what cuts hair, but it severs the religion (Hadith, Narrated in Jami at-Tirmidhi). One of the important directions by Shari’a to minimize chances of conflicts between employers and employees is to have clarity in the employment contracts. This is important because ambiguity in employment contract can become a source of future conflict between the two parties. Both parties are required to then fulfill their duties as agreed upon in the contract in addition to the responsibilities assigned by Shari’a.
Responsibilities of Employers
The first core responsibility of employers is to ensure timely payment of salaries to the employees irrespective of their financial difficulties. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) emphasized the importance of the issue by saying “Give the worker his wages before his sweat dries” (Hadith, Narrated in Sunan Ibn-e-Majah) and warned employers of strict accountability on the Day of Judgment by saying in case of not ensuring full and timely payment of employees: Allah Said, ‘I will be the opponent of three on the Day of Judgment: one who makes a covenant in My Name and then breaks it; one who sells a free man as a slave and devours his price and one who hires a workman and having taken full work from him, does not pay him his wages (Hadith, Narrated in Ibn-e-Abi Shaiba). The second core obligatory responsibility of employers is to ensure that employees are given due time to perform their obligatory religious prayers. This right is given to employees by Shari’a and cannot be taken away by any clause of employment contract. The third core obligatory responsibility of employers towards their employees is to give them proper respect and burden the employees keeping in view their capabilities. The superiority of any individual before Allah depends on the level of righteousness rather than level of wealth. Allah says in holy Qur’an, “Surely the noblest of you, in Allah‘s sight, is the one who is most pious of you. Surely Allah is All Knowing, All-Aware” (the Qur’an, 49:13). At another place in Holy Qur’an, Allah says “And We bestowed dignity on the children of Adam (the Qur’an, 17:70)”. Therefore, the employers should never insult their employees and should never consider them inferior human beings. Furthermore, employers should burden their employees considering their abilities as is evident from the following saying of Prophet Muhammad ( PBUH): Your slaves are your brothers and Allah has put them under your command. So whoever has a brother under his command, should feed him of that which he eats and dress him of that which he wears. Do not ask them (slaves) to do things beyond their capacity (power) and if you do so, then help them (Hadith, Narrated in Sahi Bukhari). The conversation between Prophet Moses and Prophet Shoaib, quoted in Qur’an, in which Prophet Shoaib told Prophet Moses that “And I do not want to put you in any trouble; you will find me, Insha‘allah (God-willing) one of the righteous.”(the Qur’an, 28:27) also demonstrate the desired behavior of a good employer towards his employees. The fourth and final obligatory core responsibility of employers is to ensure safety of their employees at workplace.
Responsibilities of Employees
Shari’a has ordered employees to honestly do their jobs and to strictly adhere to the job timings agreed in the job contract. In the light of the verses Qur’an in which Allah says, “Woe to the curtailers. Who, when they measure something to receive from people, take it in full. And when they measure or weigh something to give it to them, give less than due (the Qur’an, 83:1-3)”, scholars believe that it is obligatory responsibility of the employees that they should perform their duties as promised in the employment contract. One senior Mufti commented on the responsibilities of employees as under: Employees should fulfill their job responsibilities with complete honestly and they should not perform their personal activities during the time they have given to their employers. They should not waste time in needless talking as well and should concentrate on their work. They cannot even engage in voluntary religious activities when they are required by their employers to perform their duties. This is because of the reason that the employees have sold their time to their employers and now it is their responsibility to strictly observe organizational policies regarding timetable. The following verses of Holy Qur’an and sayings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) also show the importance given in Islam on honestly performing job responsibilities: Whoever misappropriates shall bring forth, on Doomsday, what he misappropriated. Then, everybody shall be paid, in full, for what he has earned, and they shall not be wronged (the Qur’an, 3:161).O you who believe, do not betray the trust of Allah and the Messenger, and do not betray your mutual trusts, while you know (the Qur’an, 8:27).And (success is attained) by those who honestly look after their trusts and covenant. And who consistently observe their prayers. Those are the inheritors. Who will inherit Firdaus (the Paradise). They will be there forever (the Qur’an, 23:9-12).The honest treasurer who gives willingly what he is ordered to give, is one of the two charitable persons (the second being the owner) (Hadith, Narrated in Sahi Bukhari).
In The End
The Islamic financial system has its own ethics and moral values. Based on the Quran, it is a charter for the wellbeing of humanity. Islam propagates a society based on social justice, equity, moderation and balanced relationships. It is a system embodying eternal values, safeguarding the rights of people and reminding them of their obligations to themselves and society. It forbids all forms of exploitation and honours labour. It encourages men and women to earn their living by honest means and to spend their earnings in a rational way. To achieve an ideal society, it forbids dealing in interest, gambling, pornography, alcohol, drugs etc. Forbidden also are business dealings that Islam considers abhorrent. Islamic Concept of Employer-Employee Relationships must always be put to optimum use, and no one has the right to hoard them, to keep them idle, to squander them, or to use them for want on display, be it by the individual, the community or the state. Development is an essential requirement, and participation in economic activity is obligatory for everyone capable.
The members of a society must work hard and always seek to produce the optimum, so as to be able to participate in the process of zakat (charity), thus contributing to the welfare of others”
From the foregoing discussions, it is clear that the Islamic concept of employer-employee relationship has the capacity to provide and establish harmonious relationships between the two contracting parties. Both Islamic and non-Islamic financial institutions and non-financial institutions would find its application practicable. A good employer employee relationship has great importance in Islam, as it is very useful to provide huge potential benefits for both employer and employee.
