Chapter 126(a) - Matters Permissible or Otherwise in Renting Land

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not rent land in exchange for wheat, barley, dates, canals or small amount of water, but you can do so in exchange for gold or silver; gold and silver are guaranteed and those are not guaranteed.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not rent land in exchange for dates, wheat, barley, al-Arbi‘a’ or al-Nitaf.’ I then asked, ‘What is al-Arbi‘a?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is a small amount of water and al-Nitaf means extra water, but rent it in exchange for gold or silver, for half of the produce, one-third or one-fourth.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not rent land in exchange for wheat where you plant wheat.’”

“About the case of a man who accepts dinar or dirham for (the rent of) land, abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“About the case of a man who has a piece of land for which he pays a certain amount of tax that may increase or decrease; and he gives it to another man to pay its taxes and two hundred dirham every year. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about renting land in exchange for foodstuff. He (the Imam) said, ‘If it is of the produce of the same land, there is nothing good in it.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who rented a piece of land from another man saying, ‘I rent this piece of land to cultivate, and if I will not cultivate I will still pay you the rent’; and he does not cultivate it. He (the Imam) said, ‘He has the right to collect the rent whether he cultivates it or not.’”

“I once asked al-Rida’ (a.s.), about the case of a man who bought a certain piece of land from another man in exchange for one hundred Kur (a certain unit of measurement) to be paid from the land. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is unlawful.’ I then asked, ‘I pray to Allah to keep my soul in service for your cause, what do you say if I buy from him the land for a known measure of wheat from other sources. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“I once asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about the case of a man for whom the farmers cultivate saffron and guarantee to give him a certain amount by the weight of dirham for every Jirib (a certain unit of measurement) that is cultivated and then it may produce less thus, he is in loss or may produce more, thus, he gains. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful if they mutually agree.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man for whom saffron was cultivated and the farmers guaranteed to give him one Mann (a certain unit of weight) out of every forty Mann fresh saffron and made a settlement about the dried saffron. Dried saffron reduces by three-fourth from fresh kind and one-fourth remains and this is experimented. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not valid.’ I then said, ‘If he appoints trusted people for protection, he cannot do so because it is worked upon during the night, it is not difficult to protect.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘He can contract the land first in which he must say that from every forty Mann it is one Mann .’”