Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (9/448)

we say: this is not a sale; rather, it is akin to hiring him to water and tend it. In a sale, the seller relinquishes it entirely and ownership passes to the buyer. Here, however, ownership does not pass; rather, he is like a hired worker who tends this fruit until it ripens. This is the second form.

His statement, “and concerning trees that he plants,” means that a sharecropping contract is valid concerning trees that have not yet been planted, where the worker plants them and the trees are supplied by the landowner. This is the third form. The forms, then, are as follows:

The first: existing trees concerning which a sharecropping contract is made.

The second: fruit on trees concerning which a sharecropping contract is made.

The third: trees which have not yet been planted. The owner of the capital brings the trees and gathers them together, then says to the worker, “I enter into a sharecropping contract with you concerning these trees: you will plant them in return for a share of their fruit.” This is permissible, because the basic principle in transactions is permissibility, and because this is the apparent implication of the Messenger’s ﷺ practice with the people of Khaybar. Thus, there are three forms.

His statement, “and he works on them,” refers to this worker.

His statement, “until they bear fruit, in return for a share of the fruit”: what the worker is required to do and what the owner of the trees is required to do will come, Allah willing.

There is a fourth form: if he enters into a sharecropping contract with him concerning the trees in return for all of the fruit, saying, “You may have all the fruit.” The established school holds that this is not permissible, but the correct view is that it is undoubtedly permissible. For if sharecropping is permissible in return for a portion of the fruit, it is permissible in return for all of it, since that is more advantageous for the worker.

If he enters into a sharecropping contract with him on the condition that he works but receives nothing of the fruit, then the established school

نقول: هذا ليس ببيع، لكنه كالمؤاجرة على سقيها وإصلاحها، والبيع يتخلى عنه البائع نهائيّاً وينتقل ملكه إلى المشتري، أما هذا فلا ينتقل، وإنما هو كالأجير يقوم على هذه الثمرة حتى تنضج، وهذه هي الصورة الثانية. قوله: «وعلى شجر يغرسه» يعني وتصح المساقاة على شجر لم يغرس بعد، وإنما يغرسه العامل، والشجر من رب الأرض، وهذه هي الصورة الثالثة، فالصور إذن: الأولى: شجر قائم يُساقي عليه. الثانية: ثمر على شجر يُساقي عليه. الثالثة: شجر لم يغرس بَعْدُ، إنما أتى رب المال بالأشجار وجمعها، وقال للعامل: ساقيتك على هذه الأشجار تغرسها بجزء من ثمرتها، فهذا يجوز؛ لأن الأصل في المعاملات الجواز؛ ولأن هذا هو ظاهر فعل الرسول ﷺ مع أهل خيبر، فصارت الصور ثلاثاً. قوله: «ويعمل عليه» هذا العامل. قوله: «حتى يثمر بجزء من الثمرة» وسيأتي ـ إن شاء الله ـ ما الذي يلزمه وما الذي يلزم رب الأصل. هناك صورة رابعة: وهي لو ساقاه على الشجر بكل الثمرة، قال: لك كل الثمرة، فالمذهب أن هذا لا يجوز، والصحيح أنه جائز بلا شك؛ لأنه إذا جازت المساقاة بجزء من الثمرة جازت بكل الثمرة؛ لأن ذلك أحظ للعامل. ولو ساقاه على أن يعمل ولا شيء له من الثمر، فالمذهب