Islamic Ruling on Payment for Substitute Teachers: A Sharia Perspective

Should a Substitute Teacher be Paid Extra? Understanding the Sharia Ruling

Question: If someone is teaching children at an educational center and takes a 14-day leave for Umrah, and during this period, another person who is already paid on an hourly basis teaches in their place, should the person who taught for 14 days be paid extra, or can the original responsible person keep the fee without teaching?

Answer: The teacher at the educational center should be paid based on the initial agreement made regarding teaching and remuneration. If the teacher’s payment was agreed upon on an hourly basis, they should be paid according to the hours worked at the end of the month. According to Sharia, a person should be paid for the work they have done, and it is not permissible to take payment for work not done.

If a teacher has taken on the responsibility of teaching for 14 days in the absence of a specific teacher, they should be paid for those 14 days. If they teach based on the previous hourly rate, they should receive the same payment as in previous months, without any increase. The original responsible person should not keep the fee for those 14 days. In this case, it appears that the educational loss to the children for those 14 days should be compensated by waiving the fee for that period.

 Sheikh Maqbool Ahmed Salafi Hafizahullah

❪Jeddah Dawah Center, Hayy Al-Salamah – Saudi Arabia❫