that relies heavily on legislation and caselaw.
In Islam, apart from the original sources
such as the Qur’an and Hadith, the opinion
and explanation of jurists is highly regarded
and has strong persuasive authority. In
Islamic teaching, if the sources are clear they
should first be resorted to. In this context,
the Qur’an and Hadith have many principles
and guidelines on employment relationship.
The verses of the Qur’an as well as the
Hadith of the Prophet outline many duties,
rights and obligations on employers and
employees. Authors have written quite
a number of articles on the employment
relationship in the Islamic context. For
example, Kamal Halili (2012) discussed the
concept of contractualism in employment
relationship from both the common law and
Shari’ah perspectives. He explained that
there was a strong foundation of Islamic
principles supporting the existence of a
contract of service (Ijarah) in Islam. In
teaching employment law from the Islamic
perspective, this concept of Islamic contract
of service must first be introduced as such
a contract is the instrument that binds
parties i.e the employer and employee. The
terminology used in Islam such as musta’jir
(employer), ajir (employee) connote parties
to the contract of service. Islam recognises
the existence of the employer-employee
relationship as a fitrah in human relations
where an element of command and control
exists in the strata of working society: Allah
SWT says: “It is we who divide among their
livelihood in the life of this world, and We
exalt some of them above others in rank,
so that some may command work from the
others” (Qur’an, 43:32). This verse can be
accepted as proof of contractual employment
relations, which is a fundamental concept in
the study of labour law.
An employment relationship is not only
about command and control; it is more akin
to brotherhood. In the study of employment
law similar to Common law, Islam also
emphasises on the philosophical of right;
where Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. said,
“your brethren whom Allah has placed
on your custody; let him who has made
custodian of his brother by Allah feed him
from what he himself eats, clothe him out
of what he clothes himself, and impose
not on him work that will overcome him”
(Sahih Bukhari). This Hadith discusses the
notion of equality, fairness and compassion.
Economic as well as human perspectives
exist in Islamic labour law as proven in the
narration by Anaas, who served the Prophet
S.A.W., when he said, “the prophet never
paid a low wage to a person. One of the
three persons that will argue against us on
the day of judgment is a man who engaged
a labourer and enjoyed full benefit from
him, yet did not pay him (his due) wages”
(Sahih Bukhari). The Prophet SAW said,
“pay the labourer his wages before his sweat
dries” (as narrated by Abu Daud). Wages
is an important component in the study of
labour law and the above Hadith is a good
example. In compassion, the worker should
not be given a task beyond his physical
capabilities. The holy Prophet S.A.W.
said, “a slave should have normal food and
clothing, and he is obliged to do such work
as he is capable of doing” (Imam Malik, al-
Kamal Halili Hassan
76 Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum. 23 (1): 67 - 83 (2015)
Mawatta’