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I am an engineer and my job requires me to go out and do work in other offices. I install telephone systems and Data cables as well as CCTV.

Most jobs are in huge offices but sometimes we get sent to the directors homes to do work there.

Being Muslim we, do our job very well and Alhumdulillah our customers are very pleased and recommend us to other clients.

However, as they like the job so much, I get a tip from them. Sometimes £5, £10, £20 even £50.This is beside what they pay for the work we were called for.

 

I am sure there are many other trades in which people get tips, like restaurants, cabbies etc.

 

But I came across something that pushed me back a little. Please bear in mind that we dont work for the tip rather we work honestly. Yes we do take shortcuts, but it is still valid in my field.

Please read the post below and reply with your thoughts.

Jazakallah Khair.

The Fatwa is from a Salafi site.

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Should he give the telephone worker a tip even though he has a salary?
What is the ruling on giving a tip to someone who does a service for me, such as an employee of the telephone company who fixes the phone for me, knowing that he gets a fixed salary for his work? Is it permissible for me to give him a tip or not?.


Praise be to Allaah.

It is not permissible to give tips or gifts to workers who get a salary for their work. The evidence for that is what was narrated by al-Bukhaari (6578) and Muslim (1832) from Abu Humayd al-Saa’idi who said:

The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) appointed a man from al-Asad who was called Ibn al-Lutbiyyah. When he came he said: This is for you, and this was given to me. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood up on the minbar and praised and glorified Allaah, and said: “What is the matter with an agent whom I send, and he says, ‘This is for you and this was given to me’? Why doesn’t he sit in the house of his father or the house of his mother and see if he is given anything or not. By the One in Whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, no one of you gets anything from it (unlawfully), but he will bring it on the Day of Resurrection, carrying it on his shoulders, even if it is a groaning camel, a lowing cow or a bleating sheep.” Then he raised his arms until we saw the whiteness of his armpits, then he said: “O Allaah, have I conveyed (the message)?” two times.

Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: This Hadeeth indicates that giving gifts to workers is haraam. Hence in the Hadeeth he mentioned his punishment and the fact that he will carry what was given to him on the Day of Resurrection. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stated in the same Hadeeth the reason why it is Haraam to give him gifts and that is because he is appointed to do this job, and this is unlike giving gifts to someone other than a worker, which is mustahabb. The ruling on that which a worker takes in the name of a gift is that it must be returned to the giver, and if that is not possible it must be given to the bayt al-maal.

Sharh Muslim (6/462).

It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Buraydah from his father that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever we appoint to do a task and we give him his provision, whatever he takes after that is ghulool (stolen booty).” What this Hadeeth means is: whoever we appoint for a task and give him money for that, it is not permissible for him to take anything after that. If he does take anything, it is ghulool, which refers to wealth stolen from the war booty or the bayt al-maal of the Muslims.

Narrated by Abu Dawood (2943) and classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.

These two hadeeths show that it is not permissible for one who is employed and receives a salary from his workplace to accept money or gifts from anyone because of his work. If he does that, it is ghulool.

Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) was asked: We are government employees and we get tips and zakaah from some businessmen during Ramadaan, and we cannot distinguish between the tips and the zakaah because we do not know what is what.

Our question is: If we take this money although we do not need it, and spend it on widows, orphans and the poor, what is the ruling on that? If we spend any of it on our families and consume it, what is the ruling?

He replied:

Giving gifts to workers is a kind of ghulool, i.e., if a person has a government job and someone who has some business to do with him gives him a gift, this is ghulool, and it is not permissible for him to take any of it, even if it is given willingly.

For example: let us assume that you have dealings with some department, and you give a gift to the head of this department, or to his employees. It is Haraam for him to accept it, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent ‘Abd-Allaah ibn al-Lutbiyyah to collect the zakaah and when he came back he said, “This was given to me as a gift and this is for you.” The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) stood up and addressed the people and said: “What is the matter with a man among you whom we appoint to do a task, then he comes and says, This is for you and this was given to me. Why doesn’t he sit in the house of his father and mother and see whether he is given anything or not?

It is not permissible for any employees in any government department to accept a gift in any dealings that have to do with this department. If we open this door and say that it is permissible for an employees to accept this gift, then we will have opened the door to bribery, and bribery is a very serious matter and a major sin. If employees are offered gifts that have to do with their work, they should refuse these gifts, and it is not permissible for them to accept them, whether they come in the name of gifts or charity or zakaah, especially if they are well off, because zakaah is not permissible for them, as is well known.

Fataawa al-Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen (18/ question no. 270)

And Allaah knows best.

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Interesting. Found this differing view on sunnipath:

Q: Is it permissible to accept tips (money) from customers for example if you are working as a valet car attendant or any job for that matter?

A: Walaikum assalam wa rahmatullah,

I pray that this finds you well, and in the best of health and spirits. May Allah grant you all good and success in this life and the next.

In general, tips are Halal for employees to take--there is nothing about them that would go against Shariah principles.

However, one should not be avid for tips in a manner that would be contrary to propriety or dignified conduct, as one of the central virtues of Islam is dignified restrain (`iffa). This restraint is something the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) praised and taught us to ask Allah for in a number of beautiful supplications, including:

"O Allah, I ask You for guidance, piety, dignified restraint, and freedom from need."
(Allahumma innee as'aluka'l huda, wa't tuqa, wa'l `afaafa, wa'l ghina)
[Related by Muslim, on the authority of Ibn Mas`ud (Allah be pleased with him)]
Giving tips

The one giving a tip would be rewarded for appreciating the service of others. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said told us that it is from thankfulness to Allah to be thankful to people.

And when it is customary to give tips for particular services, then it would be proper to follow such customs--within reasonable limits, and as long as there is nothing obviously reprehensible or blameworthy in such a custom (such as undue expectations). This is because of what Ibn Abidin mentions in his work `Uqud Rasm al-Mufti:

Customs are of consideration in the Shariah,
Which is why rulings may revolve around them.

And Allah alone gives success.
Faraz Rabbani

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=8579&CATE=43

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So now what?

By the way, I've always doubted Faraz Rabani. Some of his work seemed "barelwee".

There is thread dedicated to him on this site.

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If I was to tip, this is one place I wouldnt.

http://www.muftisays.com/forums/people-s-say/5589/why-i-found-a-hmc-restaurant-to-be-haram-%28my-opinion%29.html

But then again, there would be those who would tip just to please the waitress, who pleased their Nafs.

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abu mohammed wrote:

So now what?

You've answered yourself here:

abu mohammed wrote:

The Fatwa is from a Salafi site.

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Asslamo Allaikum,

Query sent to a Hanafi Shaykh in Makkah Mukarramah. Awaiting reply.

Jazakullah Khairun

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"bint Mohammed" wrote:

"abu mohammed" wrote:

So now what?

You've answered yourself here:

"abu mohammed" wrote:

The Fatwa is from a Salafi site.

The Salafis are good when it comes to references. Not everything they say or do is wrong.

A few of the books I have are Salafi. But none are Barelwee. The Salafi site has presented overwhelming evidence, what we need to find out is if it has been abrogated.

Brothe Muadh, I once asked a Mufti a question and he gave me an answer that seemed correct. A year later, I saw evidence against his answer, so I went back to him with the evidence for him to confirm. He took back his first answer and agreed with the evidence. I hope you have sent the Hadith with your query.

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O Jazakallah for that.

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abu mohammed wrote:

But then again, there would be those who would tip just to please the waitress, who pleased their Nafs.

LOL

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"rizmalek" wrote:

"abu mohammed" wrote:

But then again, there would be those who would tip just to please the waitress, who pleased their Nafs.

LOL

So you understand my point about the restaurant then?

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"abu mohammed" wrote:

"bint Mohammed" wrote:

"abu mohammed" wrote:

So now what?

You've answered yourself here:

"abu mohammed" wrote:

The Fatwa is from a Salafi site.

The Salafis are good when it comes to references. Not everything they say or do is wrong.

A few of the books I have are Salafi. But none are Barelwee. The Salafi site has presented overwhelming evidence, what we need to find out is if it has been abrogated.

Brothe Muadh, I once asked a Mufti a question and he gave me an answer that seemed correct. A year later, I saw evidence against his answer, so I went back to him with the evidence for him to confirm. He took back his first answer and agreed with the evidence. I hope you have sent the Hadith with your query.

Asslamo Allaikum,

The Shaykh whom I have sent the query to is:

1. Very Senior in age & knowledge
2. Fluent in Arabic
3. Student of many well known Hanafi Scholars
4. Lives & teaches in Makkah to he knows about Salafiyyah and their Scholars very well

:- ) I have also lived and studied in Saudia so yes, Salafees are not always wrong and Shaykh Salih Al-Uathymeen (RA) was a Hanbali Qadhi, not Madkhali by the way : - )

But I chose to take my Fatwa from a Hanafi Shaykh since I am a Hanafi and that doesn't mean that others are false.

I will let the Shaykh reply and we will then ask him to comment on the Hadeeth, no problems.

Jazakullah Khairun

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aww
Is it Mawlana Makki who teaches in the Haram?

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Asslamo Allaikum,
 

Shaykh (HA) replied and said for general tipping:

Yes. If one doesn't tip maybe next time you will get bad service. Otherwise as a charity one should think if that is the best place to put one's charity.

Shaykh (HA) replied on the specific question on this thread:

Saudi Arabic Government has blocked the fatwa; however, there is no question about the lawfulness of the tip; it's a simple gift done in appreciation of good work. The Prophet bought a camel from Jabir and paid him his price and gave him more than agreed upon out of love for him. The previous answer was for the case in which one works for oneself. However, I realized that the situation is actually the situation where one is working for someone else, and in this situation one may not be entitled to the money unless one's employer makes it clear that he permits his employee to keep the tips; otherwise, one really got the tip  by virtue of the opportunity provided to him by his employer. What is the company's policy?
 

My 2 pennies : - ) :

He cannot view the Salafi Fatwa because that site (as you may know) is blocked in Saudia by the Saudi Government. In my opinion here is the daleel for the Hanafi Madhab which the Shaykh (HA) is quoting from Saheeh Bukhari in his answer:

Narrated Jabir bin 'Abdullah:

I was accompanying the Prophet on a journey and was riding a slow camel that was lagging behind the others. The Prophet passed by me and asked, "Who is this?" I replied, "Jabir bin 'Abdullah." He asked, "What is the matter, (why are you late)?" I replied, "I am riding a slow camel." He asked, "Do you have a stick?" I replied in the affirmative. He said, "Give it to me." When I gave it to him, he beat the camel and rebuked it. Then that camel surpassed the others thenceforth. The Prophet said, "Sell it to me." I replied, "It is (a gift) for you, O Allah's Apostle." He said, "Sell it to me. I have bought it for four Dinars (gold pieces) and you can keep on riding it till Medina." When we approached Medina, I started going (towards my house). The Prophet said, "Where are you going?" I Sad, "I have married a widow." He said, "Why have you not married a virgin to fondle with each other?" I said, "My father died and left daughters, so I decided to marry a widow (an experienced woman) (to look after them)." He said, "Well done." When we reached Medina, Allah's Apostle said, "O Bilal, pay him (the price of the camel) and give him extra money." Bilal gave me four Dinars and one Qirat extra. (A sub-narrator said): Jabir added, "The extra Qirat of Allah's Apostle never parted from me." The Qirat was always in Jabir bin 'Abdullah's purse.

Shaykh (HA) answers the follow up question:

My boss is for tips too, infact, he takes them too.

I like to tell my boss when I've been tipped so that he is aware of it just incase the customer turns around and says, I gave your engineer money on the side.

One day I went on a job and the customer paid cash. (The Cash goes in my boss' pocket, thats his tip for the work we do).This guy is very stingy, he doesnt want to pay the VAT so he pays cash, and on top of that, he haggles alot, anyway he over paid by £10.

I had already left and counted the money in the car. I drove back and told him that he had given £10 extra by accident. Luckily for me, there was another builder there who had witnessed my honesty, so this stingy guy got embarrased and said, "no no, thats for you, its a tip". I was shocked. When I returned to the office and gave my boss the cash, I told him that he tipped me a tenner. My boss said, "I know, he already phoned me". We just laughed, because we know what this guy is really like with money. (By the way, he was Jewish)

Conclusion, My company preffers tips, this proves we did a good job. and for our company, we dont advertise, its purely recommendations. I've been working there for 13 years. That proves how much we get recommended.

Then, since your boss is okay with it it's clearly lawful for you.
 

"ummi taalib" wrote:

aww Is it Mawlana Makki who teaches in the Haram?

W-Salam Aapa,

No, he isn't. Hazrat Makki Saheb (HA) doesn't speak English.

Jazakullah Khairun

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I love you man (brother Muadh)