Having Timber Cut from Forests by a Hired Labourer

Question

I paid a labourer his wage, had timber cut in government forests and brought it back, and I am selling this timber to others. To what extent is this timber business correct from the point of view of the Shariʿa, or is it not? In this business I have neither taken nor given a bribe of any kind. To what extent is this business correct according to Islamic principles?

Answer

If you make an agreement with the labourer in this way: “I am to take this work from you for, say, eight hours a day, and for eight hours of work I will give a wage of, say, four rupees,” and the labourer accepts it, then according to the Shariʿa this transaction is correct, and the timber will be your property; you may sell it however you wish.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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