As for his prohibition—peace and blessings be upon him—of selling fruit for several years in advance, which another narration explains as the sale of successive years’ produce, it is—and Allah knows best—like his prohibition of selling the unborn offspring of an unborn offspring. He prohibited a buyer only from purchasing the future fruit that the owner of the tree would obtain from it. Leasing land and trees in order to derive their produce, however, does not constitute a sale proper; rather, it is a form of lease.

A parallel to this is the previously cited hadith of Jābir in the Sahīh stating that he prohibited leasing land, that he “prohibited mukhābara (sharecropping),” that he “prohibited muzāraa (crop-sharing),” and that he said, “Do not lease out land.” What was meant was the form of leasing they customarily practiced, as explicitly clarified—namely, the forms of mukhābara and muzāraa they used to practice. He thus prohibited their customary forms of leasing and selling fruit for several years in advance, whose ultimate effect was to sell fruit before it became fit for sale and to enter into a crop-sharing arrangement in which a specified portion was stipulated.

This was a prohibition of practices in which the harm predominated. The former prohibited uncertainty within the category of sales, while the latter prohibited uncertainty within the broad category of hire, which includes musāqāh (orchard-sharecropping) and muzāraa (crop-sharing). In both cases, he explained that this form of sale and this form of leasing led to disputes and bitter hostility. This is precisely what Allah mentioned concerning the wisdom behind the prohibition of gambling: “Satan seeks only to sow enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling” [al-Māidah: 91] [al-Māidah: 91].

[Chapter on Rules That Some Scholars Included under Prohibited Contractual Uncertainty]

Chapter

Among the rules that some scholars included under prohibited contractual uncertainty are certain forms of leases and partnerships, such as musāqāh (orchard-sharecropping), muzāraa (crop-sharing), and similar arrangements.