Rules Regarding Ju’ala (Payment of Reward)
2226. Ju’ala means that a person promises that if a particular work is completed for him, he will give a specified amount for it. For example, he declares that if anyone recovers his lost property, he will give him $10. One who makes such a declaration is called Ja’il, and the person who carries out that work is called ‘Amil. One of the differences between Ju’ala and Ijara (hire) is that, in the case of "hire", the hired person is bound to do the job after the agreement, and the hirer becomes indebted to the hired person for his wages, whereas in the case of Ju’ala, even though the ‘Amil is a specific person, he is at liberty to abandon it if he so wishes; and until he completes the job assigned, the person who declared the reward or payment does not become indebted to him.
2227. A person who declares the payment or reward should be adult and sane, and should have made it with his free will and intention, and should have the right of disposal and discretion over his property, as per the Shari’ah. Therefore, the declaration by a feeble minded person, who squanders his property indiscreetly, is not in order. Similarly, for a person who declares any reward or payment from that part of the wealth over which he is forbidden any right of discretion by the Shari’ah, the Ju’ala is not in order.
2228. The task for which the declaration was made by the employer should not be Haraam, futile, or one of those obligatory acts which should necessarily be performed free according to Shari’ah. Hence, if a person declares that he will give $10 to a person who drinks alcohol, or traverses a dark passage at night without any sensible purpose, the employment will not be in order.
2229. If a person specifies the reward which he pays in return of the employment, for example, if he says: “Whoever finds my horse, I will give this wheat to him as reward”; then it is not necessary for him to specify as to where this wheat has been brought from or what its price is, but if he does not specify the reward, for example, and says: “whosoever finds my horse, ten kilos of wheat will be given to him as reward”, in such a case, he should specify all the attributes of the reward.
2230. If a person does not mention the amount of reward which he would give for his work – for example, if he says: "I shall give money to the person who finds out my son", and does not specify the amount of money, Ju’ala is not in order, and if someone performs the task, he should pay him according to what is customarily paid for such tasks.
2231. If the ‘Aamil’ in Ju’ala performs the task before the agreement is made, or performs it after the agreement, but with the intention that he will not take any money, he is not entitled to demand wages.
2232. The person who makes a Ju’ala agreement can cancel it before the person employed starts to work.
2233. If the person wishes to cancel the Ju’ala agreement after the employee has started work, it is a matter of Ishkal.
2234. A person appointed to work in Ju’ala can leave the task incomplete. However, if his failure to complete the task causes harm to the person who appointed him, he must complete it. For example, if a person says: "If someone operates my eye, I shall give him so much money" and a surgeon commences the operation. If by not completing the operation, the eye will be defective, he must complete it. And if he leaves it half way, he has no claim, whatsoever, over the person who employed him. And he will also be held responsible for the defect that has occurred in the eye.
2235. If the person appointed to work (‘Amil) leaves the task incomplete, however, if that task is, for example, finding his horse, which will not benefit that person unless it’s completed, i.e. the horse is found, then the person allotted for this task cannot demand any reward. Similarly, if the employer keeps a condition that the reward will be given on completion of the task, for example, he says: “Whosoever stitches my dress, will be awarded $10”; but if his intention was that he will give away the reward according to the extent of work done, he should give the reward of the performed work to the appointed person; however, they should satisfy each other with mutual agreement, as per the precaution.