Dar received Fatwa Al-Masryah asked a content question: What is the ruling on taking a commission for transferring money? There is a person who periodically sends a sum of money to a merchant living in Egypt on a bank account to deliver it to his family. He delivers it in exchange for receiving an agreed-upon commission between them of 1% of the value of the amount sent. What is the ruling on that commission?
The fatwa answered the question by saying: There is no legal objection to the agent receiving a financial commission (fee) amounting to: 1% of the value of the amount sent to him and required to be delivered to the client’s family, as long as the amount sent is known before commencing its delivery, which results in the knowledge of the commission (fee) that the agent is entitled to before work, which is one of the conditions for the validity of a paid agency.
Ruling on taking commission for transferring money
As for what is related to the ruling on the broker receiving a financial commission agreed upon in advance in exchange for transferring the money and delivering it from one party to another – which is the subject of the question – then the “commission” is: [رِزْقُ العامل الذي يتقاضاه لقيامه وسيطًا بين طرفين، أجرةً له على قِيَامه بمعاملة أو عملٍ مَا]. See: “The Intermediate Dictionary” of the Arabic Language Academy, Article: “Work” (2/628, ed. Dar Al-Da’wa) (adapted), “Dictionary of Economic Terms in Islamic Civilization” by Dr. Muhammad Amara (p. 390, ed. Dar Al-Shorouk). This transaction in question is defined as an agency for compensation. The client, the “sender of the money,” is the “principal,” and the carrier of the money is the “agent.” This commission that the agent receives is: a wage in exchange for delivering the amount transferred to his account to be delivered to the client’s family. The agency is: [إقامةِ الإنسانِ غيرَه مَقامَ نَفْسه في تصرُّفٍ معلومٍ]. See: “Al-Inaya” by Allama Akmal al-Din al-Babarti (7/499, ed. Dar al-Fikr).
Agency is one of the contracts whose legality there is no disagreement among jurists. Among those who stated this were Imam Ibn Hazm al-Zahiri, Imam Ibn al-Qattan and others. See: “The Levels of Consensus” by Imam Ibn Hazm Al-Zahiri (p. 61, ed. Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah), and “Persuasion in Issues of Consensus” by Imam Ibn Al-Qattan (2/156, ed. Al-Faruq Al-Hadith).
The four imams, Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’i, and Hanbali, agreed that it is permissible for the agent to receive compensation or a fee in exchange for performing what was entrusted to him by the principal. In general, what was reported on the authority of Ibn al-Saadi al-Maliki – Abdullah bin Amr bin Waqdan bin Abdul Shams – may God be pleased with him, said: “Omar bin Al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, appointed me to give charity, and when I finished it, And I gave it to him. He ordered me to do work for me, so I said: I only worked for God, and my reward is due to God. He said: Take what you are given, for I worked during the covenant of the Messenger of God. May God’s prayers and peace be upon him, so he made me work. I said the same as you said. Then the Messenger of God, may God’s prayers and peace be upon him, said to me: “If you are given something without asking, then eat. And give in charity.” Narrated by Imam Muslim.
Imam Al-Nawawi said in “Al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim” (7/137, ed. Dar Ihya’ Al-Turath): [قوله: «أَمَرَ لِي بِعُمَالَةٍ» هي: بِضَمِّ الْعَيْنِ وهي: المال الذي يُعْطَاهُ العاملُ على عمله، قوله: «عَمِلْتُ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وآله وَسَلَّمَ فَعَمَّلَنِي» هو: بتشديد الميم أي: أعطاني أجرة عملي، وفي هذا الحديث: جواز أَخْذِ العوض على أعمال المسلمين سواءٌ كانت لدِينٍ أو لدنيا] Oh.
Jurists have successively stated the permissibility of agency in exchange for:
The scholar Al-Kamal bin Al-Hammam Al-Hanafi said in “Fath Al-Qadeer” (8/3, ed. Dar Al-Fikr): [قد يكون في نفس الوكالة التعاوض كما إذا أَخَذَ الوكيلُ الأجرةَ لِإقامةِ الوكالة، فإنَّهُ غيرُ ممنوعٍ شرعًا، إذ الوكالةُ عقدٌ جائزٌ لا يجبُ على الوكيل إقامتها فيجوز أَخْذُ الأُجرةِ فيها] Oh.
The scholar Al-Hattab Al-Maliki said in “Mawahib Al-Jalil Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil” (5/188, ed. Dar Al-Fikr): [وإن كانت بعوضٍ.. تلزمهما بالعقد، ولا يكون لواحدٍ التَخلِّي، وتكون بعوضٍ مُسمًّى، وإلى أجلٍ مضروبٍ وفي عملٍ معروف… وفي قول ابن الحاجب: والوكالة بأجرةٍ لازمةٍ كالإجارة] Oh.
Imam Al-Dardir Al-Maliki said in “Al-Sharh Al-Saghir” (4/23: 25, ed. Dar Al-Ma’arif): [(اعمل على دابتي) ولم يُقَيِّدْ باحتطابٍ أو غيره (أو) اعمل (في حانوتي) أو في حمامي أو سفينتي، ونحو ذلك (وما تَحَصَّلَ) من ثمنٍ أو أجرةٍ (فلك نصفه) مثلًا ففاسدة للجهل بقدر الأجرة فتُفسخ… (بخلاف نحو) قول ربها: (احتطب) عليها (ولك نصفه) أي: الحطب، فيجوز إن علم ما يحتطبه عليها بعادةٍ أو شَرْطٍ، فَعِلَّةُ الجواز العلم، وسواءٌ قَيَّدَ بزمنٍ كيومٍ لي ويومٍ لك أم لا، كنقلة لي ونقلة لك؛ فالأجرة هنا معلومة] Oh.
The scholar Al-Khatib Al-Shirbini Al-Shafi’i said in “Mughni Al-Muhtaj” (3/257): [الوكالةُ ولو بِجُعْلٍ (جَائِزَةٌ من الجانبين) أي: من جانب المُوكِّل؛ لِأَنَّهُ قد يرى المصلحة في تَرْكِ ما وُكِّلَ فيه أو في توكيل آخر، ومن جانب الوكيل؛ لِأَنَّهُ قد لا يَتَفَرَّغُ فيكون اللزوم مُضِرًّا بهما، هذا إذا لم يكن عقد الوكالة باستئجار، فإن كان بِأَنْ عَقَدَ بلفظ الإجارة فهو لازمٌ] Oh.
Imam Al-Bahooti Al-Hanbali said in “Kashshaf Al-Qinaa” (3/489, ed. Alam Al-Kutub): [(ويجوز التوكيلُ بِجُعْلٍ معلوم)؛ لِأَنَّهُ صَلَّى اللهُ عليه وآله وسَلَّم: «كَانَ يَبْعَثُ عُمَّالَهُ لِقَبْضِ الصَّدَقَاتِ وَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمْ عَلَى ذَلِكَ جُعْلًا»، ولِأَنَّهُ تَصَرُّفٌ لغيره لا يلزمه] Oh.
It is stated in Article No. (709) of the Egyptian Civil Code: [أنَّ الأصل في الوكالة أنَّها تبرعية ما لم يُتَّفَقْ على غير ذلك، أو يُستخلص ضِمْنًا من حالة الوكيل] Oh.
As for what is related to the ruling that the rent is part of the contracted amount or a percentage of the object of the agency in exchange for compensation, there is nothing wrong with that, as long as the object of the contract or the object of the agency is known in terms of quantity, gender, and character; Since the wage is known, it denies ignorance, and this is what the transaction is valid with.
Imam Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi said in “Al-Mughni” (5/327, ed. Cairo Library): [يُشترط في عِوَضِ الإجارةِ كَوْنُه معلومًا لا نعلم في ذلك خلافًا؛ وذلك لِأَنَّهُ عِوَضٌ في عَقْدِ معاوضة، فوجب أن يكون معلومًا، كالثمن في البيع] Oh.
