from leasing it in return for the crop of a specified portion, and said, “Lease it for gold or silver.” The Companions understood it in the same way. Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj narrated this and stated, “There is no harm in leasing it for gold or silver.” The same was understood by the jurists among the Companions, such as Zayd ibn Thābit and Ibn ʿAbbās.

The two Sahih collections narrate that ʿAmr ibn Dīnār said: “I said to Tāwūs, ‘If only you would give up sharecropping, for people claim that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) prohibited it.’ He replied, ‘O ʿAmr, I give to them and help them. The most knowledgeable of them—meaning Ibn ʿAbbās—informed me that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not prohibit it, but said: “For one of you to grant his brother the use of his land is better for him than taking a fixed rent for it.”’” It is also narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that “the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) did not prohibit sharecropping; rather, he instructed people to deal kindly with one another.” Muslim narrated it in a condensed form, and al-Tirmidhī also narrated it and said, “This is a good and authentic hadith.”

Tāwūs thus reported from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) merely called them to the better course, namely allowing others to use the land gratuitously. He said, “I help them and give to them.” The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) enjoined gracious treatment. Some forms of it are obligatory, such as avoiding usury and transactions involving excessive uncertainty, while others are recommended, such as lending an item for use or making a loan.

Since allowing land to be used rent-free is an act of benevolence, a fellow Muslim had a greater claim to it. He therefore said, “For one of you to grant his brother the use of his land is better for him than taking a fixed rent for it.” He also said, “Whoever owns land should cultivate it, grant his brother its use, or retain it.” Thus, the brother was the one to whom its use was to be granted. Since the People of the Scripture are not brothers in faith, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered into a sharecropping arrangement with them and did not grant them its use rent-free—not