The Quranic verse 65:01 (as in footnotes above) says, “O Prophet (ﷺ)! (Say to the Muslims:) ‘When you seek to divorce your women, divorce them during their period of purity and count their prescribed period. And keep fearing Allah, Who is your Lord. And do not drive them out of their homes, nor should they leave unless they commit open indecency…” This suggests that no severance pay will be granted on the dismissal of a worker in case of a severe breach of contract. Similarly, verse 09:84 says, “And never perform (funeral) Prayer over any of these (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave (because your stepping on some place also brings about mercy and blessings, and they do not deserve your mercy and blessing). Indeed, they disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and died in a state of defiance”. This implies that no severance pay may be granted in case of worker dismissal on account of disciplinary proceedings due to severe breach of contract/disclosure of business secrets etc. Moreover, the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “A man may do the deeds of the people of the Fire while in fact, he is one of the people of Paradise, and he may do the deeds of the people of Paradise while in fact, he belongs to the people of Fire, and verily, (the rewards of) the deeds are decided by the last actions (deeds)”. (Sahih Bukhari: 6607)

إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ لَيَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ، وَإِنَّهُ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ، وَيَعْمَلُ عَمَلَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ، وَإِنَّهُ مِنْ أَهْلِ النَّارِ، وَإِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالْخَوَاتِيمِ ‏

This hadith implies that in case of disciplinary action, a worker, even with a long service period, can be punished for grave mistakes/gross misconduct and not awarded any severance pay. [20] Social security benefits on termination of an employment contract are also referred to in Islam. The Quranic verse 02:241 states, “And the divorced women must also be provided with maintenance according to what is fair. This is compulsory for the pious”. (02:241)

وَلِلْمُطَلَّقَاتِ مَتَاعٌ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ۖ حَقًّا عَلَى الْمُتَّقِينَ۝

This verse can suggest that compensation should be given for forcefully retired workers or dismissed workers for a limited time. Some payments (like medical) may be continued even after the dismissal of a worker. The verse 17:34 says, “And (also) do not go near the orphan’s property, but in a beneficial way (to the orphan), until he reaches his maturity. And always fulfil the promise. No doubt, the promise will be questioned about” (17:34). Here, it implies that the state and the employer should devise such a mechanism to protect the gratuity/severance pay of the worker in case of in-service death until the children reach the age of majority/adulthood. Similarly, verse 04:05 says, “And do not entrust to the mentally deficient your (or their) assets which Allah has made a means of stability for your economy. However, feed them out of it and clothe them, and say to them good and nice words” (04:05). This also implies that the state should protect pension and gratuity until the adulthood of the orphans in case of in-service death of workers. Survivor benefits for in-service death (termination of contract) of a worker are also suggested in Islam. However, survivors’ benefits are available to the orphans until they reach the age of majority (maturity), i.e., 18 years. “Ali (RA) reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying, “There is no orphanhood after the age of puberty”. (Sunan Abi Dawud: 2873)

لاَ يُتْمَ بَعْدَ احْتِلاَمٍ