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Fiqh of Hire: Do Students Have to Pay Their Tutor For Classes They Skip?

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by Qibla.com

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Is it permissible for a teacher to ask for payment in advance for classes he will teach, and stipulate that he will keep the money for days which he turned up to teach but which the student didn’t? The teacher does this because his time is in demand, and students often pull out of classes, wasting his time which he could have spent earning a living teacher others.

Answer:
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Walaikum assalam,

The teacher has a right to charge for classes the student does not show up for, because he has effectively provided the service, by turning up (or being at home) for the class. The student not showing up is their fault, and the teacher is not liable for it.

One should beware of not giving others their due. Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haytami said in his al-Zawajir, “It is from wrongdoing (zulm) not to give someone hired their due.” (al-Zawajir `an Iqtiraf al-Kaba’ir, 2: 202) In fact, he counted “Delaying or refusing to give wages to someone after they finished their work,” as one of the enormities. (Ibid., 1: 437)

The proper manners for dealing with those one hires for a service were mentioned by the Prophet (Allah bless him & give him peace) when he instructed, “Give the one hired their wages before their sweat dries.” (Reported by Ibn Majah with a sound chain of transmitters)

The Fiqh of it:

The one hired is either particularly hired or generally hired, in the Shariah. [Majalla, item 422] The rulings for each vary.

Allama Ali Haydar explained in his commentary on the Majalla that, “Whenever the hiring is for the time of hiring itself, [f: as opposed to doing a particular task or service, for example] then it is a particular hiring.” (Durar al-Hukkam Sharh Majallat al-Ahkam, 2: 385)

Given this, it is stated in the Majalla that,

“(Item 425) The person hired deserves their wage if they present themselves for the period they were hired for. It is not a condition that they actually work. However, they cannot refuse to work. If they do so, they do not deserve their wage.”

`Allama `Ali Haydar (Allah have mercy on him) quoted Imam al-Zayla`i’s Tabyin al-Haqa’iq, a commentary on Imam al-Nasafi’s Kanz al-Daqa’iq,

“It is not a condition for one particularly hired to actually work, as explained in this item [of the Majalla], because the benefits of the hiring are due to the one who hired for the period of the hiring, and these benefits were ready, and the hiring is in exchange of these benefits. So if the one who hired is remiss in benefiting from the one hired, and the latter did not have a physical impediment from working, such as illness or (heavy) reason, then they have a right to take the wage, even without working.” (`Allama `Ali Haydar, Durar al-Hukkam Sharh Majallat al-Ahkam, 2: 387)

And Allah knows best.

Wassalam,

Faraz Rabbani.

This answer was indexed from Qibla.com, which used to have a repository of Islamic Q&A answered by various scholars. The website is no longer in existence. It has now been transformed into a learning portal with paid Islamic course offering under the brand of Kiflayn.

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