Question:
She quotes a hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari which mentions a man appointed by the Prophetﷺ to collect zakat. When he returned, he said: “This portion is for you, and this portion was given to me as a gift.” The Prophetﷺ became angry and said that if he had stayed in his father’s or mother’s house, he would have seen whether gifts would come to him. The Prophetﷺ warned that anyone who takes something unjustly from zakat will come on the Day of Judgment carrying it on his neck—whether it is a camel, a cow, or a sheep. After saying this he raised his hands and said three times that he had conveyed the message of Allahﷻ .
Her question is: does this hadith apply only to zakat collectors, or does it apply to modern situations such as delivery workers, food couriers, or gas delivery workers who receive tips from customers? If someone gives them a tip, should they keep it, or must they hand it over to their company?
Answer:
If we read the hadith superficially, it might appear that any gift received while doing a job should be handed over to the employer. But we must understand the context. The Prophetﷺ objected because the zakat collector had a position of authority. When he went to collect zakat, if people gave him gifts, he might show favoritism toward them. He might overlook mistakes in their zakat calculation or accept less than what they owed.
Human psychology works like that. If someone gives you a personal gift, you may feel inclined to treat them more leniently. This could corrupt the fairness of the zakat system. To prevent such corruption, the Prophetﷺ forbade the collector from accepting personal gifts related to that duty.
But in many modern cases the situation is different. For example, when someone eats in a restaurant and gives the server a tip after the bill is already paid, the server cannot change the price of the food or reduce the bill. The payment is already completed. The tip is simply given as appreciation for the service.
The same applies to delivery workers. The delivery person does not set the price of the product, nor can he alter the bill. The customer pays the company according to the fixed price. If the customer then gives the delivery worker a small amount as a token of appreciation for carrying the item upstairs or making the delivery, that gift does not influence any official transaction.
The key principle is this: if accepting the gift could lead to injustice or favoritism that harms the employer or the system—like in the case of the zakat collector—then it should not be accepted. But if the gift has no effect on the transaction and does not harm the employer, then accepting it is permissible.
In the case of tips given to delivery workers or service staff, they are usually given simply out of kindness or appreciation for the effort involved.
Therefore, those workers may accept such tips, because it does not create injustice or compromise their duty.