the land and a fruit-sharing arrangement for tending the trees, the payment is in fact intended to cover both. The tenant agreed to pay only in order to obtain the fruit of the trees as well as cultivate the land. The scholars have differed over the validity of this contract. Whether it is considered valid or invalid, whatever trees are lost, the corresponding portion of the payment is no longer due, whether the owner cut them down or they were lost otherwise. Allah knows best.

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

A man leased the land of an orchard from Mashārif al-Ajnās for a specified period, then died, leaving children. The rent was payable in instalments of twenty dirhams each year. The deceased tenant’s children have been asked to pay the entire rent immediately. Can they be required to pay the full rent, or should it be collected from them in its annual instalments?

He replied:

In these circumstances, his children are not required to pay the entire rent immediately. However, if the owners of the land do not trust them to discharge this obligation, they may require them to provide someone who will guarantee payment of the rent as its instalments fall due.

This is clear according to the view that a deferred debt does not become due upon the debtor’s death. As for the view that it does become due upon his death … (1), the same applies here, according to the