He is not deemed to hold the property in ḥirz (legal custody), nor is any wage due to him; likewise the cupping practitioner, the veterinarian, and the skilful physician—provided his hand has caused no harm and he acted with permission(1)—and the shepherd so long as he has neither overstepped the limits nor been negligent.

A wage that has not been deferred in the contract becomes obligatory; it falls due once the work owed has been delivered, and it is firmly established when the agreed period is completed or the like. If possession is taken under a void lease, only the customary rent is payable, while the upkeep of the hired article rests on its owner, just as he must bear the cost of returning it.

Section: Jiʿālah(2)

A reward of a known amount is valid when offered to whoever carries out a task, even if the task itself is unspecified, or for a period even if the duration is unknown—such as retrieving a runaway slave, recovering lost property, sewing a garment, building a wall, or giving the call to prayer in a mosque for a month and the like. Whoever performs the task after the offer has been made earns the reward, and if several people do it together they divide it between them. If the worker withdraws before completion he is entitled to nothing, whereas if the offeror retracts after the worker has begun, the latter is entitled to the value of the work already done.

If the two parties disagree about whether a reward was promised, or about its amount, the word of the offeror prevails.

Anyone who performs a task for another without permission and without an agreed reward is entitled to nothing—except the person who brings back a runaway slave, for he receives one dinar or twelve dirhams, together with whatever he spent on the slave. Whoever saves another’s property or slave from destruction(3) is entitled to the customary wage(4).