The questions recorded by al-Athram and by Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥārith coincide on this point.

Mahannā further relates: I asked Aḥmad about a man who leases his house—or a shop—to Magians, knowing that they commit fornication there. He replied:

‘Ibn ʿAwn held that one should not lease to Muslims. He would say, “I overawe them when collecting the rent,” and therefore preferred to lease to non-Muslims.’

Abū Bakr al-Khallāl remarked: In every account in which Abū ʿAbd Allāh was questioned about a man who leases his house to a dhimmī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh merely responded by citing Ibn ʿAwn’s practice; he did not render an independent ruling of his own. Ibrāhīm also reported that he saw him impressed by Ibn ʿAwn’s position. As for those who transmitted from Abū ʿAbd Allāh regarding a Muslim selling his house to a dhimmī, they conveyed that he strongly disliked it. Were Abū ʿAbd Allāh’s statement about granting residence to be applied consistently, then, in my view, residence and sale would be equivalent. The outward purport of Abū ʿAbd Allāh’s words is that it should not be sold to him, because he will commit unbelief there, erect crosses, and the like. In my judgment, therefore, it should neither be sold to him nor leased to him, for the two matters amount to the same thing.