to which they can refer.

“Customary remuneration” is assessed by reference to a specified amount only when there is such an amount to which both parties can refer. This is comparable to sales and hiring: since the commodity itself or its equivalent has a specified price, its equivalent value must be paid if it is taken without its owner’s consent. Likewise, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Whoever emancipates his share in a slave and has enough wealth to cover the slave’s price must have the slave fairly valued, pay his partners their shares, and the slave is then set free.”

Here the slave is valued because he and others like him are sold in the market, so his value—the market price at that time—can be determined. The same applies to hired workers and craftsmen. Thus, in the authentic hadith, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade Ali “to give the butcher anything from the sacrificial camels,” and said, “We will pay him ourselves.”

Slaughtering and distributing the meat are the responsibility of the person offering the sacrifice, so he must pay the butcher who performs this work. The butcher is entitled to the same remuneration as others doing comparable work, because butchery is a familiar trade with an established customary rate. The same applies to other crafts, such as weaving, tailoring, and building. During the Prophet’s lifetime, some people worked as tailors for payment; such a tailor is therefore entitled to what his peers receive. Likewise, a hired servant is entitled to what comparable workers receive, because this is an established custom among people.

As for the “nursing mother,” she is comparable to other mothers who breastfeed after divorce. They have no fixed customary rate; rather, their circumstances while breastfeeding are assessed in accordance with what has been mentioned. If she is pregnant by him while divorced, she is entitled to reasonable maintenance and clothing. In reality, this is maintenance for the unborn child. This is the stronger of the two scholarly views, as Allah Most High says:

“And if they are pregnant, then spend on them until they give birth.”