Book of Orchard Sharecropping

Orchard sharecropping (musāqāh) consists of tending an orchard in return for a share of its fruit. Its name derives from watering, since watering constitutes the greater part of tending orchards and keeps their fruit healthy and promotes its growth. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“On the earth are neighbouring tracts, gardens of grapevines, crops, and date palms sharing a single root or growing separately, all watered with the same water; yet We make some better than others in their produce. Surely in this are signs for people who reason.” [al-Raʿd: 4]

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“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited selling fruit before it shows signs of ripeness, selling what has not yet come into existence, sales involving uncertainty, and hiring someone for an unspecified wage.” He said: “Whoever hires a worker should hire him for a specified wage and a specified term.”

Orchard sharecropping falls under sales involving uncertainty, hiring for an unspecified wage, and selling fruit before it shows signs of ripeness. However, “on the day he conquered Khaybar, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, entered into a sharecropping agreement with its Jews concerning the date palms: they would receive half the fruit in return for their work and deliver the other half to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions. He told them: ‘We shall let you remain as long as Allah lets you remain, on condition that the fruit is shared between us and you.’ He would send Abd Allāh ibn Rawāhah to estimate the yield for both parties. Then he would say to them: ‘If you wish, it is yours; if you wish, it is mine.’ They would take it.” This was thus an instance of