to lease it for cultivation, because the contracted benefit does not exist. However, if he leases it to use as a storehouse, that is permissible, because it can be put to use.

His statement: “and the benefit must belong to the lessor, or he must be authorized concerning it.” This is the fifth condition concerning the leased property. It means that he must either own it or stand in the owner’s place. This is a condition in all contracts: in every contract, the contracting party must own the subject matter of the contract, either through ownership itself or as the owner’s representative. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah, Exalted is He:

“O you who believe, do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly, but only through trade by mutual consent among you.” [al-Nisa’ 4:29]

Thus, the contracted benefit must belong to the lessor, or he must be authorized with respect to it.

The author did not say, “that the property must belong to the lessor,” because a person may own the benefit without owning the property itself. The condition is that the benefit belongs to the lessor, or that he is authorized concerning it. For example, if someone is granted the benefit of this property as a gift—while the property itself does not belong to him, but remains the owner’s property—and he leases it out, the lease is valid, because he owns the benefit even though he does not own the property itself. Another example is a man who is bequeathed the benefit of a slave, to serve him.

His statement: “or he must be authorized concerning it” refers either to an agent, who is authorized to act during the authorizer’s lifetime; or to a legal guardian, who acts by authorization of the Lawgiver, such as the guardian of an orphan or the judge’s guardianship over property whose owner is unknown; or to an executor, who is authorized to act after the death of the one granting authorization; or to a trustee of an endowment, who is authorized to administer the endowment,