Resolution No.(221) (3/2016) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:
"The Prize Resulting from Transferring the Maid`s Salary is hers, not her Employer`s"
Date: 8/Jumada 1/ 1437, corresponding to 17/2/2016 AD.
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.
During its second session held on the above date, the Board reviewed a question that read as follows:
I transfer my maid`s salary, to her family, through an exchange office which holds a prize draw on such transfers. Do I have the right to collect the won prize or is it my maid`s, taking into consideration that I pay for the transfer fees?
After deliberating, the Board decided what follows:
The salaries of the above employer`s maid, which he transfers to her family, are a debt on him. Legal scholars define debt as "A rightful obligation due on a person", and this includes any confirmed obligation incurred by a loan, a sale/transaction, an Ijarah (hiring) or else.
The above salaries is a debt, on you, possessed by your maid, in return for her work at your house, and she is permitted to dispose of it as she likes, including appointing you as her proxy with that money. Legal scholars have permitted authorizing the person, on whom one`s debt is due, to dispose of that debt the way they ask him to.
For instance; the proxy in this regard is permissible as stated by scholars; whereas Ashrbini stated: "If he/she authorized their employer to buy them an item in return for their debt, due on him, and he did, then that is permissible according to the more famous of the two opinions that validate proxy purchase." [Al-Mughni, vol3/pp.236].
In conclusion, the above money is possessed by the maid, and her employer functions as her proxy in transferring it to her family abroad; therefore, the loss or profit incurred by that proxy contract is hers, so the prize is hers as well; because it has resulted from her authorizing him. And Allah Knows Best.
Chairman of the Iftaa` Board, The Grand Mufti of Jordan, Sheikh Abdulkareem Alkhasawneh
Vice Chairman of the Iftaa` Board, Prof. Ahmad Hilayel
Dr. Hayel Abdulhafeez/ Member
Prof. Abdulnnasir Abulbasal/ Member
Sheikh Sa`eid Hijjawi/ Member
Dr. Yahia Albotoosh/ Member
Dr. Mohammad Khair Alessa/ Member
Dr. Khalid Alworaikat/ Member
Prof. Abdullah AlFawaaz/ Member
Dr. Mohammad AlKhalayleh/ Member
Dr. Mohammad AlZou`bi/ Member