they would cultivate it from their own resources; he did not provide them with seed. Similarly, the Emigrants and Helpers entered into such arrangements with the seed supplied by themselves.

Harb al-Kirmānī said: Muhammad ibn Nasr narrated to us: Hassān ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us, from Hammād ibn Salamah, from Yahyā ibn Saʿīd, from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Hakīm:

“Umar ibn al-Khattāb expelled the people of Najrān, Fadak, and Khaybar, and appointed Yaʿlā [ibn Munyah] as his agent. He entrusted the grapevines and date palms to cultivators on the basis that Umar would receive two-thirds and they would receive one-third. He entrusted the open land—that is, the treeless land—on the following terms: if the seed, oxen, and iron tools were supplied by Umar, Umar would receive two-thirds and they would receive one-third; but if they supplied them, Umar would receive one-half and they would receive one-half.”

Thus Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) and his agent Yaʿlā [ibn Munyah], a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), acted during his caliphate on the permissibility of both alternatives: the seed could be supplied by the landowner or by the cultivator.

Harb also said: Abū Maʿn narrated to us: Muʾammal narrated to us: Sufyān narrated to us, from al-Hārith ibn Hasīrah al-Azdī, from Sakhr ibn al-Walīd, from ʿAmr ibn Sulayʿ ibn Muhārib, who said:

“A man came to Ali ibn Abī Tālib and said, ‘So-and-so has taken some land, worked it, and done such-and-such with it.’ Ali summoned him and asked, ‘What is this land that you have taken?’ He replied, ‘It is land that I have taken so that I may dredge its canals, develop it, and cultivate it. Whatever Allah brings forth from it, I receive one-half and its owner receives one-half.’ Ali said, ‘There is nothing wrong with this.’”

The apparent meaning is that the seed was supplied by the cultivator, yet Ali did not forbid him from doing so. The unqualified wording of the question and Ali’s unqualified answer are sufficient evidence.

As for analogy, we have already explained that this transaction is a form of partnership,