When a bookbinder becomes entitled to his wage

Question

Question: The wage for bookbinding is still outstanding, and the bookbinder Bakr is demanding his wage from Zayd. Now, in this situation, where the books were destroyed in riots while in the bookbinder’s custody, is the bookbinder entitled under the Shari‘a to receive the wage or not? If he is, then from Zayd alone, or is ‘Amr also liable to pay the wage?

Answer

A bookbinder becomes entitled to his wage when he binds the books and returns them. Therefore, for the books that were lost after binding and were not returned, the wage for binding them is not wajib, and he has no right to demand it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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