both a reward arrangement and a hiring contract—all of this refers specifically to selling. For if he offers someone a reward for selling a large quantity of goods and hands them over to him, then changes his mind about selling them and has them returned, the person offering the reward will have benefited from their safekeeping while they were in the worker’s possession. If he does not hand them over, however, the reward arrangement is permissible, provided he specifies a reward for each garment sold; the person offering the reward is then bound by the arrangement for the sale of them all. Do you not see that a reward arrangement for purchasing many garments is permissible? The worker is not responsible for their safekeeping: whenever he purchases a garment, he delivers it to the person offering the reward and becomes entitled to the reward for it. If, however, the person offering the reward for purchasing the garments stipulates that the worker must retain them in his custody and possession until he has purchased the agreed number, the arrangement is impermissible for the reason explained above. All of this is clear.
Section
Work falls into three categories: work for which both a reward arrangement and a hiring contract are valid; work for which neither is valid; and work for which a reward arrangement is invalid but a hiring contract is valid.
There are many examples of work for which both a reward arrangement and a hiring contract are valid. These include selling one or two garments, purchasing a few or many garments, digging wells, collecting debts, and pursuing claims through litigation, according to one of Mālik’s two opinions. It has also been reported from him that a reward arrangement for litigation is impermissible.
Work for which neither a reward arrangement nor a hiring contract is valid is of two kinds: first, work that the worker is not permitted to perform; and (the second), work that he is already obliged to perform.
There are also many examples of work for which a hiring contract is valid but a reward arrangement is invalid. These include sewing a garment, providing a month’s service, selling a large quantity of goods, and selling a single item offered for sale by the person offering the reward when it is known that its price can be obtained, or on condition that it be sold in another town. The same applies to similar work from which the person offering the reward retains some benefit if the worker does not complete it.
Section
There is disagreement about an invalid reward arrangement once it has been entered into. One view is that it remains governed by the rules of a reward arrangement, in which case