Assalamualaikum W W, Respected Mufti Saheb, A person owns a commercial property for which he is receiving rentals. He sells 50% of the property to an investor and both own the property (50% each). The initial owner collects the rentals and now attends to tenant problems. Is the initial owner permitted to take a wage or commission for his work?
If he is permitted to take a wage, do both parties have to agree to a figure or is he permitted to take any wage as he deems permissible? Jazakallah
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
It is not permissible for an active partner in a partnership to take wages for his services in the partnership[1]. However, the partners may mutually agree to increase the share of the rental profits received by the initial owner in order to compensate him for his services[2].
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Hanif Yusuf Patel
Student Darul Iftaa
UK
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
References
[1]
وشرطها أي شركة العقد كون المعقود عليه قابلا للوكالة الخ وعدم ما يقطعها كشرط دراهم مسماة من الربح لأحدهما الخ
[Ad- Durr al-Mukhtar ma`a Radd al-Muhtar, 4: 305, H.M. Saeed Company]
صورت مذكورة ميں شریک کا اجیر ہونا لازم آتا ہے اور شرکت اور اجارہ جمع نہیں ہو سکتے
[Imdad al-Ahkam, 3: 330-1, Maktabah Dar al-Uloom Karachi; Imdad al-Fatawa, 3: 517, Maktabah Dar al-Uloom Karachi; Fatawa Dar al-Uloom Deoband, 13: 55, Dar al-Isha`at, Karachi]
See: http://themajlis.net/Article178.html
Or http://www.themajlis.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=36:the-question-of-wages-for-a-partner&catid=35:q-a-a&Itemid=2 in response to Ahsan al-Fatawa, 7: 321-8]
[2] ويجوز التفاضل في الربح مع تساويهما في رأس المال
[Fatawa Alamgiriyyah, 2: 310; Al-Lubab fi Sharh al-Kitab, 3: 308, Dar al-Basha`ir al-Islamiyyah]
[Imdad al-Ahkam, 3: 331, Maktabah Dar al-Uloom Karachi]