provide them with seed of his own. The same was true of his successors, such as ʿUmar, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqās, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and several other Companions: they entered into sharecropping agreements in which the worker supplied the seed.

In numerous answers transmitted by most of his companions, Imam Ahmad expressly stated that it is permissible to lease land in return for a share of its yield. He cited as evidence the account of the people of Khaybar and the Prophet’s agreement with them to cultivate it in return for a share of its yield. This is precisely what leasing land for a share of its yield means when the worker supplies the seed, since it is the tenant who sows the land, and in both arrangements the owner receives a share of the crop.

For this reason, those of his companions who examined this issue closely, such as Abū al-Khattāb and others, said: “This is sharecropping in which the worker supplies the seed.”

Another group of his companions, including al-Qādī and others, said: “Rather, this contract is permissible when concluded in the terms of a lease, but not in the terms of sharecropping.” This is because Ahmad expressly stated elsewhere that, in sharecropping, the owner must supply the seed.

A third group said: “Rather, this is permissible as sharecropping, but not as a lease.” Their reasoning was that a lease is a binding contract, whereas sharecropping, according to one of the two views, is not; and that this resembles the arrangement known as the “miller’s measure.” It is reported from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) “that he forbade the measure of