Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (10/66)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

If someone were to ask: Why do you not grant him a proportionate part of the rent when he prevents him from using it for part of the term?

The answer is: The lease was concluded on a specified basis—namely, a full year—and this man did not deliver the leased property to him on that basis; therefore, he is not entitled to the rent. This is one reason.

The second reason is that he is a wrongful transgressor. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “No wrongful claimant has any right.” (1) Allah the Exalted says:

“The blame is only against those who wrong people and tyrannize in the land without right.” [al-Shura 42:42]

The third reason is that we say to the lessor: The matter lies in your hands: you are the one who prevented him, and you are the one able to grant him access. Since you prevented him, you yourself have forfeited your right; therefore, you have no right to anything.

The same applies if he leases him a camel to travel on, then withholds it from him, but delivers it to him partway through the journey. Is he entitled to rent for the remainder? The author says that he is not entitled to any rent, because he deprived the lessee of his right, and thus his own right—that is, the lessor’s right—has lapsed.

The apparent meaning of his words also indicates that there is no difference whether he prevents him for part of the term

(1) Al-Bukhari recorded it as a suspended report using tentative wording in the Book of Cultivation and Sharecropping, chapter: “Whoever revives barren land.” Abu Dawud recorded it in the Book of Land Tax, chapter: “Reviving barren land” (3073); and al-Tirmidhi in the Book of Judicial Rulings, chapter: “What has been reported concerning reviving barren land” (1378), on the authority of Said ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him. Abu Dawud also recorded it in the same place (3074) on the authority of Urwah ibn al-Zubayr, who said: “A man among the Companions said, from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” Al-Hafiz graded it hasan (sound) in Bulugh al-Maram (897), and cited other chains for it in Fath al-Bari (5/19), then said: “Its chains contain some weakness, but they are strengthened by one another.” The same is stated in al-Irwa (1520).

فإن قال قائل: لماذا لا تعطونه القسط من الأجرة إذا منعه بعض المدة؟ فالجواب: أن الإجارة وقعت على صفة معينة وهي سنة كاملة، وهذا الرجل لم يسلم له العين المؤجرة على هذه الصفة فلم يستحق الأجرة، هذا وجه. الوجه الثاني: أنه ظالم معتدٍ، وقد قال النبي ﷺ: «ليس لعرق ظالم حق» (١)، وقال تعالى: ﴿إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَظْلِمُونَ النَّاسَ وَيَبْغُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ﴾ [الشورى: ٤٢]. الوجه الثالث: أن نقول للمؤجر: الأمر بيدك أنت الذي منعت وأنت الذي تمكن، فلما منعت كنت أنت الذي أسقطت حقك بنفسك فلا حق لك. ومثل ذلك لو أجره البعير ليسافر عليها، ومنعه إياها، وفي أثناء الطريق سلمها له، فهل له أجرة فيما بقي؟ المؤلف يقول: ليس له أجرة؛ لأنه منع المستأجر حقه فسقط حقه، أي: المؤجر. وظاهر كلامه ـ أيضاً ـ أنه لا فرق بين أن يمنعه بعض المدة

(١) أخرجه البخاري معلقاً بصيغة التمريض في الحرث والمزارعة/ باب من أحيا أرضاً مواتاً، وأخرجه أبو داود في الخراج/ باب في إحياء الموات (٣٠٧٣)؛ والترمذي في الأحكام/ باب ما ذكر في إحياء أرض الموات (١٣٧٨) عن سعيد بن زيد ﵁. وأخرجه أبو داود في الموضع السابق (٣٠٧٤) عن عروة بن الزبير قال: قال رجل من الصحابة عن رسول الله ﷺ؛ وحسنه الحافظ في البلوغ (٨٩٧) وذكر له طرقاً أخرى في الفتح (٥/ ١٩) ثم قال: وفي أسانيدها مقال لكن يتقوى بعضها ببعض، ومثله في الإرواء (١٥٢٠).