Fatwa No : 29318
Paying the one hired to cut grass from the same grass he has cut

Paying the one hired to cut grass from the same grass he has cut

I have a field of grass. The field has approximately 100 bundles of grass. I made an agreement with someone that if he cuts the grass and gathers it in bundles, then I will pay him half of the bundles of grass as his wage, to which he had agreed. So he was paid more or less 50 bundles of grass and the rest of the bundles remained with me. (1) Was this a valid transaction? (2) Are the bundles of grass lawful for both of us? (3) If not, then is it fully unlawful, or only some of it?

الجوابُ حامِدا ًو مُصلیِّا ً

If the questioner stipulated in their agreement that he would pay him as his wage half of the same grass that he had cut, then this agreement was not valid as per Shari’ah. This falls under “قفیز طحّان” which has been prohibited in Ahadith. Hence, in this scenario, it is incumbent upon the questioner to give the worker “اجرتِ مثل” (i.e. the average wage received for this type of work), and keep all of the grass for himself.
However, the proper way to initiate such transactions is to generalize the wage without specifically stipulating the grass that the worker will have cut, then he can be given that grass or any other grass as his wage.
And Allah knows best.

مأخَذُ الفَتوی

ففی حاشیۃ ابن عابدین: (قولہ للطحان) أی لمسألۃ قفیز الطحان وہی کما فی البزازیۃ أن یستأجر رجلا لیحمل لہ طعاما أو یطحنہ بقفیز منہ فالإجارۃ فاسدۃ، ویجب أجر المثل لا یتجاوز بہ المسمی. (قولہ: لأنہ منصوص) أی عدم الجواز منصوص علیہ بالنہی عن قفیز الطحان ودفع الغزل إلی حائک فی معناہ. (۵/ ۲۸۰) واللہ اعلم بالصواب