Chapter on musāqāt (orchard-sharecropping)

The contract is valid with any fruit-bearing tree whose produce is edible. It is not valid, however, with respect to fruit that has already appeared. It is also permissible for trees that the worker will plant and tend until they bear fruit, the worker receiving an agreed share of that future yield.

Musāqāt is a revocable contract: if the owner terminates it before the fruit becomes visible, the worker is entitled to a wage; but if the worker himself terminates it, he is entitled to nothing.

The worker is responsible for everything that promotes the welfare of the crop: ploughing, irrigation, pruning, pollination, exposing the fruit to the sun, repairing the surrounding ground, clearing the water channels, harvesting, and similar tasks. The owner, by contrast, must handle what pertains to the property itself, such as mending walls, maintaining irrigation canals, water-wheels, and the like.

Section

Muzāraʿah (field-sharecropping) is valid when each party’s share is a clearly defined percentage of whatever the land produces, whether the stipulated share is for the landowner or for the cultivator, with the remainder going to the other party. It is not a condition that the seed—or seedlings—be supplied by the landowner; such is the established practice of the people.