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Fatwa CenterA maid washing her own clothes in the house where she works
Question
Assalam alaykum, I have a lady house maid. She works between 9 am to 5 pm.In between this time she wants to wash her house clothes in my house bathroom which i donot like and I told her in a pleasing way. She said to me that there is no water in her house and she accepted my statement of not washing her clothes in my house. But later on she does it without my knowledge. So i warned her again because I donot like it strictly.But my husband says that it is not right to dis allow and instead I should allow her to wash her clothes in my house. We both have a disopinion on this. Is this haram?Pleas help us.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
In principle, the maid has no right to use the working hours upon which the contract of hiring is concluded with her (i.e. from 9 am to 5 pm) for her own purposes or to use the water in the house where she works without the permission of its owner. However, we think that this matter should not cause a dispute between you and your husband. If there is any harm that may be resulted from the maid washing her clothes in your home, then you should let your husband know about it, as this is a means of convincing him and getting his consent. Nonetheless, if there is no harm from this, then it is not among the good morals to prevent her from washing her clothes in your house.
Furthermore, if your husband is the owner of the house and he pays the water bill, then you have no right to prevent the maid from washing her clothes if he allows her to do so.
For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 83374 and 92230.
Allaah Knows best.
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