(may Allah bless him and grant him peace), ‘We will let you remain there on those terms for as long as we wish.’ The fruit from half of Khaybar was distributed according to the allotted shares, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would take one fifth.”

In another narration recorded by Muslim, ‘Abd Allāh ibn ‘Umar reported concerning the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):

“He entrusted the date palms and land of Khaybar to the Jews of Khaybar on condition that they cultivate them at their own expense, with half their yield going to the Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).”

Ibn ‘Abbās reported:

“The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entrusted Khaybar—its date palms and land—to its people in return for half the yield.”

This was recorded by Imam Ahmad and Ibn Mājah. Tāwūs reported:

“Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal leased out land during the time of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmān in return for a third or a quarter of the yield. This practice continues to this day.”

This was recorded by Ibn Mājah. Tāwūs lived in Yemen and learned from Mu‘ādh’s companions there, who were prominent men who had lived through both the pre-Islamic and Islamic periods. His words “and ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān” mean: “We used to do likewise during the time of ‘Umar and ‘Uthmān.” He omitted the verb because the circumstances made its meaning clear: his audience knew that Mu‘ādh had left Yemen during the caliphate of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq, arrived in Syria during ‘Umar’s caliphate, and died there during that same caliphate.

Al-Bukhārī said in his Sahīh:

Qays ibn Muslim reported from Abū Ja‘far—meaning al-Bāqir—“There is no emigrant household in Medina that does not cultivate land for a third or a quarter of the yield.”

He said: “‘Alī, Sa‘d ibn Mālik, ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, al-Qāsim, ‘Urwa, the families of Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Alī, and Ibn Sīrīn all practised sharecropping. ‘Umar made agreements with people on condition that, if ‘Umar supplied the seed from