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Something interesting I’ve been coming across in my labor history studies from an Islamic context: wages seemed to have been specifically for those under contracts of indentured servitude (which people translate to general slavery) & salaries were for military personnel.
Meanwhile, “hiring” was not the same category as “jobs” in the modern concept. It was basically hiring an agent to conduct business through a funded trust & both the financier & agent (worker) received a share of the profits.
This is radically different from the modern model.
This is radically different from the modern model.
This is consistent with the fact that widespread wage work has been a modern invention; it started with the rise of corporations barely 200 years ago.
Most people prior were either working as crafters, farmers, producers, or traders.
Most people prior were either working as crafters, farmers, producers, or traders.
The critical key here is the understanding that cooperative business efforts meant everybody who was involved got a cut of the profits per the work they put in, there often wasn’t a set wage that was independent of their productivity except under certain circumstances.
The more you worked, the larger your profit share.
This is different from wages, as the surplus value you generate doesn’t come back to you, it goes to “the owner” of the business.
You can work as hard as possible, you won’t get that surplus post-wage profit.
This is different from wages, as the surplus value you generate doesn’t come back to you, it goes to “the owner” of the business.
You can work as hard as possible, you won’t get that surplus post-wage profit.
Wages are counted as expenses in accounting, not as a dividend. You’re not considered a factor in the profit-sharing formula.
So no matter how much your work produces, you’re stuck with the wage you make unless the owner/manager decides you get a $1 or $2 raise.
So no matter how much your work produces, you’re stuck with the wage you make unless the owner/manager decides you get a $1 or $2 raise.
And this wasn’t a widespread method of business practice across history, contrary to general assumption under pro-capitalist education systems.
People barely 150 years ago saw wage work as a post-slavery system, which is exactly what it is.
A legitimized cost-cutting scheme.
People barely 150 years ago saw wage work as a post-slavery system, which is exactly what it is.
A legitimized cost-cutting scheme.
A few Ahadith I found interesting in relation to this:
Abd al-Razzaq narrated that Rasul’Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever hires an adjunct, let them mention his payment.”
Abdullah ibn Umar narrated that Rasul’Allah ﷺ said, “Give the laborer their reward before their sweat dries.”
Abd al-Razzaq narrated that Rasul’Allah ﷺ said, “Whoever hires an adjunct, let them mention his payment.”
Abdullah ibn Umar narrated that Rasul’Allah ﷺ said, “Give the laborer their reward before their sweat dries.”
This provides the contextual sense that labor was hired on a temporary contract basis for a preset agreement for work under certain conditions & limits, “before their sweat dries.”
This was applicable for both free people & indentured servants.
This was applicable for both free people & indentured servants.
Salih bin Suhaib narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said, “There are 3 things in which there is blessing: a sale with deferred payment, profit sharing, & mixing wheat with barley for one’s home, but not for sale.” [ibn Majah]
Profit sharing was clearly the favored form of business.
Profit sharing was clearly the favored form of business.
Imam Malik states an instance of financier making a business loan to an agent & his servant, & said, “That is permitted, & there is no harm in it, because the profit is property of the servant, & the profit is not for the overseer until (the servant) takes from it.”
He then said, “It is like the rest of his earnings.”
Even those who were in indentured servitude had a right to profit sharing, on top of being paid wages for contracting work.
This is how many were able to purchase their own freedom from servitude.
Even those who were in indentured servitude had a right to profit sharing, on top of being paid wages for contracting work.
This is how many were able to purchase their own freedom from servitude.
The most curious thing for me in these accounts is the subtle emphasis on the point that a person’s labor can’t be separated from them & counted as a commodity. It’s an investment which has to be returned accordingly.
It takes precedence over monetary investment.
It takes precedence over monetary investment.
“God will oppose a man who sells a free person & consumes the price.” — Rasul’Allah ﷺ [Sahih Bukhari]
