and a specified weight, for a specified term.” Narrated by the major hadith compilers.) p. 260

Authentic. It is from the hadith of Abdullāh ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him), and al-Tirmidhī graded it authentic. It is documented in al-Irwāʾ (1376).

355 — (Hadith: “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade sharecropping land.”) p. 261

Authentic. Muslim (5/25) and Ahmad (4/3) narrated it from Thābit ibn al-Dahhāk, who reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade sharecropping. In another narration by Muslim, Abdullāh ibn Maqil said: “Thābit asserted that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade sharecropping, instructed that the land be leased instead, and said: ‘There is no harm in that.’” Muslim also narrated (5/22) from Rāfi ibn Khadīj that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade leasing farmland. In another narration of his (5/24), through Hanzalah ibn Qays, the latter asked Rāfi ibn Khadīj about leasing land. He replied: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade leasing land.” He asked, “Even for gold and silver?” He replied, “There is no harm in leasing it for gold or silver.” In another narration of his, he said: “There is no harm in it. During the Prophet’s time (peace and blessings be upon him), people would lease land in return for the crops grown along the irrigation channels, at the heads of the watercourses, and in other specified portions of the field. One portion might perish while another survived, or one might survive while another perished. That was the only form of land lease people practiced, and it was therefore prohibited. But there is no harm when the payment is specified and guaranteed.” In another narration, he said: “We used to lease land on condition that this portion would belong to us and that portion to them. Sometimes this portion would produce while the other would not. He therefore forbade us from doing that, but he did not forbid us from leasing it for silver.”

I say: This hadith explicitly establishes the permissibility of leasing land, for it states: “He instructed that the land be leased instead and said: ‘There is no harm in that.’” The same applies to Rāfi’s statement: “There is no harm in leasing it for gold or silver.” Remember this, and compare it with the author’s forthcoming statement in the discussion entitled “Leasing Land for Money,” p. 274: “As for their prohibition of leasing land for cash, it accords with both transmitted evidence and reason”! Allah willing, the distinction between what is correct and what is erroneous will then become clear to you.