for either of them, because Ibn al-Qāsim’s underlying principle is that sharecropping is impermissible for any produce whose price is reduced for crop damage, however small or extensive the loss, whereas it is permissible for produce whose price is reduced only at the one-third threshold. Sahnūn, however, related from Ibn al-Qāsim that sharecropping is permissible for both—that is, radishes and isfanāriyya. His reason for permitting it is that they have a definite stage at which their sale becomes lawful. Before reaching that stage, they resemble field crops, sugar cane and similar plants, for which sharecropping is permissible after they have sprouted and become established.
Section
Sharecropping is permissible for whatever shares the two parties agree upon, including an arrangement whereby the worker receives the entire yield in return for his work. It has also been said that giving someone the entire yield of one’s orchard in return for tending it constitutes a grant and a gift, comparable to granting someone the services of a slave, since this entails providing for the slave’s upkeep. On this view, the gift requires taking possession and is invalidated by death. This, however, is a far-fetched view.
Neither party may stipulate that the other provide additional dinars, dirhams or anything else, except for minor tasks that the worker would not otherwise be obliged to perform and whose stipulation has been considered tolerable. Examples include patching the enclosure and repairing the water-collection basin, without constructing it anew. This is because sharecropping is a contract permitted out of necessity as an exception to the general principles. It is therefore permissible only to the extent allowed by the Sharia. What the Sharia has permitted is work connected with tending the produce; anything beyond that remains prohibited under the general rule, because it constitutes a hire contract involving uncertainty and a sale of fruit before it begins to ripen.
Section
Work in an orchard is of two kinds: work connected with tending the produce, and work unrelated to tending it.
Work unrelated to tending the produce is not obligatory upon the sharecropping worker, nor may it validly be stipulated as his responsibility, except for minor tasks, as explained above.