anything else unlawful. (Third) He leases it to him without specifying its use.

If he leases it to him to live in or to sell whatever lawful beverages he wishes, the lease is valid. If the tenant then uses it to sell wine or other unlawful things, and the landlord does not prevent him, the landlord must give the entire rent in charity. This was stated by Ibn Habīb.

Some later scholars said: This applies if he leased it for residential use, because living in a house differs from selling wine in it. By failing to prevent him, the landlord has, in effect, replaced the first agreement with the second. But if he leased it for selling lawful beverages, and the tenant sold wine and other unlawful things without the landlord preventing him, the landlord would only have to give in charity the amount by which its assessed rental value for selling wine exceeded the agreed rent.

This distinction has no basis. Here, too, it is as though he has replaced the first agreement with the second, even though the latter resembles the former in involving the sale of beverages. The correct position is that, if he knows and does not prevent him, he must give the entire rent in charity; if he does not know, he must give the difference between the two rents, without distinguishing between a lease for residential use and one for selling lawful beverages. There is no disagreement that, if he was unaware that the tenant was selling wine there, he need only give in charity the amount by which its assessed rental value for selling wine exceeded the agreed rent, whether he had leased it for selling lawful beverages or for residential use.

If, however, he leased it to him for selling wine or similar things, the lease is invalid and must be rescinded if this is discovered before the tenant takes up occupancy. If it is not discovered until the lease term has expired, the landlord must give the entire rent to the poor in charity, whether it is less or more than the assessed rental value. It has been said that this is because the rent is unlawful for the landlord, like the proceeds from selling wine. It has also been said that this is a disciplinary measure against him, not because the rent is unlawful in the same way as wine itself.

The apparent meaning of the passage in Sahnūn’s transmission in the Book of Governance is that the payment is left with him and is not given in charity, for he says there: “If it has already run its course, it stands.” However, by saying that it stands once it has run its course, he may mean that the rent is not subsequently adjusted to the assessed rental value. That interpretation is possible.

If the tenant did not sell wine there, but instead used it as a residence or for any other lawful purpose for which premises may be leased, Ibn Habīb said that the landlord may lawfully retain the rent, unless the rent for selling wine exceeds the rent for other uses, in which case he must give the excess in charity,