the crop may or may not be obtained, one party to the exchange thereby obtains what he seeks while the other does not. In sharecropping, however, if there is a crop, both share in it; if nothing is produced, both share in the deprivation. Neither obtains what he seeks to the exclusion of the other. This is closer to justice and farther removed from injustice than leasing. The governing principle in all contracts is justice, for it was with justice that the messengers were sent and the Scriptures revealed. Allah Most High says:

“Indeed, We sent Our messengers with clear proofs and sent down with them the Scripture and the balance, so that people may uphold justice.”

The Lawgiver prohibited usury because of the injustice it involves, and gambling because of the injustice it involves. The Quran prohibits both, and both constitute consuming wealth wrongfully. The transactions prohibited by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him—such as sales involving excessive uncertainty, selling fruit before it begins to ripen, selling the yields of future years, and the sales known as habal al-habala, muzābana, and muhāqala, and similar transactions—fall under either usury or gambling.

Leasing for an unknown rent—for example, renting someone a house in return for whatever money the tenant earns in his shop—is a form of gambling and is therefore impermissible. Profit-sharing investment partnerships, orchard-tending partnerships, and sharecropping, however, involve no gambling whatsoever; rather, they are among the most equitable arrangements. This makes clear to you that sharecropping in which the seed is provided by the worker