Paying commission to get work orders

5-6-2016 | IslamWeb

Question:

Assalaamu alaykum. I have a business. When I go to companies to obtain orders, the concerned staff give us orders with the condition that we pay them a commission under the table in order to get the order. (If the company's original price for the item is 100, then the staff will get 10% extra as a commission and we sell it by keeping 20% for our company as profit. Is it halal or haram for us to pay 10% as a commission under the table in order to get the order? This commission of 10% is taken by the company person without knowledge of the owner. Is it halal or haram according to the Sharia for us to deal in this way?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Paying a commission to an employee in a company in return for giving the work order to you is not permissible because that employee is an agent for his company and he gets a salary for doing his job, so it is not permissible for him to take a commission for it without the permission of his employer. Therefore, it is forbidden to give a commission to him because that constitutes Ghulool (unlawful earnings). It has been proven that the Prophet used a man from (the tribe of) Al-Azd to collect zakah and charity, and when he returned, he said, “This is for you, and this was gifted to me.” Thereupon, the Prophet said, “Why hadn't he stayed in his father's or mother's house to see whether he would be given presents or not?” [Al-Bukhari]

This hadeeth is clear evidence that the gifts that are given to the employee to complete his work for which he gets a salary are forbidden.

An-Nawawi said, “This hadeeth clarifies that the gifts received (by workers or employees) for doing a job are forbidden.”

Moreover, Abu Daawood reported that Buraydah narrated that the Prophet said, “If we employ someone to do a given work and we pay him for doing the work, then whatever he takes after that (because of doing the work) is Ghulool (unlawful earnings).”

Allaah knows best.