Chapter Three
Payment of Reward (Jo’ālah)
907. In jurisprudence, jo’ālah is: announcing a promise and commitment to give something, or to do work, for anyone who will carry out a certain task, according to the wish of the announcing person (jā’il). Jo’ālah , or payment of reward, is similar to ijārah (rent/lease/hire) in having the element of using others, but it differs from it that a rent/lease/hire agreement is a contract that requires proposal and acceptance while the payment of reward is regarded as ‘Iqa‘’, i.e. confirmation for which the announcement by the person promising the reward is sufficient.
908. For the form (of the announcement), any wording that shows the wish of the person promising the reward and his will to do something for whoever accomplishes a certain task is permissible; no specific wording is conditional, nor any specific announcing method; as mentioned above, there is no need for the acceptance of the other party who is carrying out the task
909. The person promising the reward (jā’il) must meet the conditions of sanity and choice, not be interdicted for unreasonable conduct (safah), also not be interdicted for bankruptcy if the task requires the disposal of the assets of the interdicted person; otherwise it is valid, such as if the reward of jo’ālah is in itself work; the jo’ālah of a child is acceptable with the permission of the guardian.
910. No conditions apply to the person who responds to a jo’ālah , except the ability to do the task and achieve it (the purpose), so the reward will be due to him even if the means to carry out the task are forbidden, such as if a woman in menses cleans the mosque or the person carrying out the task uses a stolen car to search for a lost possession, or even if the person carrying out the task is a child or insane. That said, in such a case, the lost possession which is required to be found must be in the possession of someone other than the one who finds it, hence the meaning of searching for it and finding it stems from it really being lost.
911. It is conditional that the task for which the reward is announced is allowed, has a worthwhile benefit and that it is not something that is known in the Sharī‘ah to be a duty on the person that he must perform; so jo’ālah is not valid on for forbidden task, nor on something that has a forbidden pre-requirement, nor on a purposeless task such as filling water from a pond then pouring it back into it, nor on things like acts of worship– prayers, fasting etc – which the announcer of the reward (jā’il) has to perform himself. In addition, the task must be known in itself and in its details to a degree that prevents dispute.
912. It is generally allowed for both parties to change their mind and stop pursuing the jo’ālah and the task in question; the announcer of the reward is allowed to withdraw from his promise before the person undertaking the task starts, also after it upon agreement with the person undertaking the task, otherwise it is not allowed to withdraw, as a precaution; also it is allowed for the person undertaking the task to abandon the objective needed for the reward, or not to complete it, unless abandoning the task leads to harm to the announcer of the reward or to whoever the task is for, such as in medical treatment and the like, in which case it must be completed since harming is forbidden - not because the jo’ālah is binding.
913. The jo’ālah (i.e. the reward) is due to the person undertaking the task when he completes the task as it is announced, so if he carries out only some of it, nothing will be due to him from the announcer of the reward unless the reward on the whole of the task was divided into parts, either by the jā’il announcement or because it is commonly known in similar works, in which case payment is due for the parts achieved in ratio to the complete task.
Added to the condition mentioned above are all conditions which the announcer of the reward puts in his jo’ālah , such as immediate commencement of the task and the like.
914. If dispute takes place between the announcer of the reward and the person undertaking the task over the existence of the jo’ālah itself, or the kind of the task for which the reward was announced, or the nature of the reward or the amount of work required, here the decision follows the claim of the announcer of the reward, if affirmed under oath (yamin). But if the dispute is over the amount of the reward, the decision follows the party who disputes the additional amount, if affirmed under oath (yamin).
Chapter Three
Payment of Reward (Jo’ālah)
907. In jurisprudence, jo’ālah is: announcing a promise and commitment to give something, or to do work, for anyone who will carry out a certain task, according to the wish of the announcing person (jā’il). Jo’ālah , or payment of reward, is similar to ijārah (rent/lease/hire) in having the element of using others, but it differs from it that a rent/lease/hire agreement is a contract that requires proposal and acceptance while the payment of reward is regarded as ‘Iqa‘’, i.e. confirmation for which the announcement by the person promising the reward is sufficient.
908. For the form (of the announcement), any wording that shows the wish of the person promising the reward and his will to do something for whoever accomplishes a certain task is permissible; no specific wording is conditional, nor any specific announcing method; as mentioned above, there is no need for the acceptance of the other party who is carrying out the task
909. The person promising the reward (jā’il) must meet the conditions of sanity and choice, not be interdicted for unreasonable conduct (safah), also not be interdicted for bankruptcy if the task requires the disposal of the assets of the interdicted person; otherwise it is valid, such as if the reward of jo’ālah is in itself work; the jo’ālah of a child is acceptable with the permission of the guardian.
910. No conditions apply to the person who responds to a jo’ālah , except the ability to do the task and achieve it (the purpose), so the reward will be due to him even if the means to carry out the task are forbidden, such as if a woman in menses cleans the mosque or the person carrying out the task uses a stolen car to search for a lost possession, or even if the person carrying out the task is a child or insane. That said, in such a case, the lost possession which is required to be found must be in the possession of someone other than the one who finds it, hence the meaning of searching for it and finding it stems from it really being lost.
911. It is conditional that the task for which the reward is announced is allowed, has a worthwhile benefit and that it is not something that is known in the Sharī‘ah to be a duty on the person that he must perform; so jo’ālah is not valid on for forbidden task, nor on something that has a forbidden pre-requirement, nor on a purposeless task such as filling water from a pond then pouring it back into it, nor on things like acts of worship– prayers, fasting etc – which the announcer of the reward (jā’il) has to perform himself. In addition, the task must be known in itself and in its details to a degree that prevents dispute.
912. It is generally allowed for both parties to change their mind and stop pursuing the jo’ālah and the task in question; the announcer of the reward is allowed to withdraw from his promise before the person undertaking the task starts, also after it upon agreement with the person undertaking the task, otherwise it is not allowed to withdraw, as a precaution; also it is allowed for the person undertaking the task to abandon the objective needed for the reward, or not to complete it, unless abandoning the task leads to harm to the announcer of the reward or to whoever the task is for, such as in medical treatment and the like, in which case it must be completed since harming is forbidden - not because the jo’ālah is binding.
913. The jo’ālah (i.e. the reward) is due to the person undertaking the task when he completes the task as it is announced, so if he carries out only some of it, nothing will be due to him from the announcer of the reward unless the reward on the whole of the task was divided into parts, either by the jā’il announcement or because it is commonly known in similar works, in which case payment is due for the parts achieved in ratio to the complete task.
Added to the condition mentioned above are all conditions which the announcer of the reward puts in his jo’ālah , such as immediate commencement of the task and the like.
914. If dispute takes place between the announcer of the reward and the person undertaking the task over the existence of the jo’ālah itself, or the kind of the task for which the reward was announced, or the nature of the reward or the amount of work required, here the decision follows the claim of the announcer of the reward, if affirmed under oath (yamin). But if the dispute is over the amount of the reward, the decision follows the party who disputes the additional amount, if affirmed under oath (yamin).