evidence of this or the landowner had acknowledged it. If the landowner acknowledges this, or the cultivator produces evidence of it, this provides grounds for accepting the cultivator’s statement that he leased it from him for such-and-such an amount, provided that amount is plausible as its fair rental value. Thus, if the landowner declines to swear that he was unaware of the cultivation, the cultivator must swear to both points, saying: “By Allah, he knew that I was cultivating it, and I leased it from him for such-and-such an amount,” provided the rent he claims is plausible. If that amount is not plausible as rent for the land, his statement is not accepted. The landowner must then swear that he did not lease it to him and becomes entitled to its fair rental value. He may not, however, uproot the cultivator’s crop if the cultivator swears that he cultivated the land with the landowner’s knowledge and awareness. If the cultivator declines to take that oath, the landowner may reclaim his land and uproot the crop.

Section

If the cultivator has evidence that he cultivated the land with the landowner’s knowledge and awareness, but has no evidence of the lease, his statement concerning the rent is accepted upon his oath, provided the amount he states is plausible. If it is not plausible, his statement is not accepted, and the landowner must swear that he did not lease it to him; the cultivator must then pay the fair rental value. If the landowner declines to swear, the cultivator’s statement is accepted even if the amount he states is implausible, because the landowner, by declining to swear, has enabled him to establish his claim. If the rent acknowledged by the cultivator equals or exceeds the fair rental value, the cultivator is not required to swear in this case.

This is Ibn al-Qāsim’s position in al-Mudawwana. In treating the cultivator’s evidence of the landowner’s knowledge and awareness as equivalent to the landowner’s refusal to swear, so that the cultivator’s statement concerning the rent is accepted upon his oath if the amount is plausible, Ibn al-Qāsim means specifically that the landowner declines to swear that the cultivation took place without his knowledge and awareness. If, however, he declines to swear that he did not lease it to the cultivator, the cultivator’s statement is accepted even if the amount is implausible. There is no disagreement among them on this, apart from what may be inferred from the case in the Book of Profit-Sharing Partnerships, which we have already mentioned.

The other authority cited in al-Mudawwana, however, did not regard cultivation with the landowner’s knowledge as grounds warranting acceptance of the cultivator’s statement concerning the amount of rent. Rather, he held that the landowner’s statement is accepted upon his oath that he did not lease his land to the cultivator. Once he swears to this, he becomes entitled to rent