As for leasing land in al-Sawad, it is permissible. This was explicitly stated by Aḥmad in the narration of Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥarb and al-Athram: “If a man leases a plot of land in al-Sawad from someone who holds it, for a specified rent, that is permissible, and he shall have the same standing in it as they do.” This is because it is in his possession by virtue of a lease, since kharāj is rent paid for it. Thus, he may sublease what he has leased, as with all other things.
A number of transmitters also reported from him concerning the houses of Makkah: “Do not lease them.” In the narration of Ḥanbal, he said: “He only disapproved of leasing the houses of Makkah because it was conquered by force: the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered it by the sword. Since it was conquered by force, all Muslims had an equal legal right to it, and ʿUmar left al-Sawad for the same reason.” In the narrations of Abū Ṭālib, al-Athram, and Ibn Manṣūr, he said: “Do not lease the houses of Makkah.” Thus, he prohibited leasing the houses of Makkah even though it had been conquered by force.
The distinction between it and the land of al-Sawad is that the conqueror of al-Sawad—ʿUmar—authorized its leasing. He did so by imposing kharāj on those who benefited from it, kharāj being rent paid for it. The conqueror of Makkah—the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace)—authorized the use of its property without rent, saying: “Makkah is a place of encampment; its properties are not to be sold, nor its houses rented.”
If it is asked: Since kharāj is rent, why did Aḥmad call it ṣaghār, that is, humiliation? In the narration of Ḥanbal, when he was asked about purchasing estates and houses in al-Sawad, he said: “You own them while paying kharāj, which is humiliation.” This was based on what Abū Bakr related with his chain of transmission from Abū ʿIyāḍ, that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said: “Do not buy anything from the slaves of the people under covenant, for they are people liable to land tax; nor buy any of their lands. Let none of you accept humiliation around his neck when Allah has delivered him from it.” Thus, he called it humiliation. Through another chain of transmission, it is reported from ʿUmar that he said: “You are following an excellent way in your religion so long as you do not share in the humiliation of the unbelievers, when Allah has delivered you from it.” Through another chain of transmission, it is reported from a man of Juhaynah that the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Whoever accepts the ṭasq (assessed land tax) after Allah has delivered him from it, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people.” Through another chain of transmission, it is reported from ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: “I shall tell you who has turned back on his heels: a man who embraced Islam and perfected his Islam, then migrated and perfected his migration, then fought and perfected his fighting, and afterward went to a Nabataean who held a piece of land, took it, planted it, and made it flourish. Then he devoted himself to developing it and abandoned his fighting. That is the one who has turned back on his heels.”
It also resembles the jizyah in that it is not initially imposed on a Muslim; rather, it is initially imposed on unbelievers. Moreover, it is treated as fayʾ property. In the narration of Isḥāq, when Aḥmad was asked about a man leasing land in al-Sawad, he replied: “Entering into a sharecropping arrangement with a man is dearer to me than leasing land.”
Aḥmad preferred sharecropping (muzāraʿah) to leasing because a lease involves taking compensation in exchange for the usufruct, whereas sharecropping involves providing compensation for the worker’s labor. For this reason, he preferred it to leasing.