of one thousandth for their owner—another act of financial irresponsibility warranting legal interdiction. Whoever does this must be placed under legal interdiction by the authorities, rather than having the contract enforced and declared valid.

If it is argued, “He may grant a concession under this contract because of the concession he receives from the other party under the other contract,” the answer is: “If he is entitled to that reciprocal concession, then one of the two contracts must be a condition of the other. If he is not entitled to it, then he is granting a concession under this contract without a corresponding concession from the other party under that contract.”

Such an arrangement is beneficial only when both parties take possession of what they are to receive. If a man grants someone a concession on one commodity, and the other grants him a concession on another, and both take possession, it might be said that the intended purpose is thereby achieved, whether in a case like this or in a case like this. Yet the fruit may or may not materialize, while the other party is entitled to demand the full rent even if no fruit materializes. This is not financially sound conduct; rather, it is the conduct of financially irresponsible people who deserve to be placed under legal interdiction.

This is especially so if the person administering the property has no authority to make gratuitous concessions, such as an administrator of an endowment or an orphan’s property. He would say to the tenant, “I am obliged to demand the full rent from you, whether or not the fruit materializes.” Would a financially responsible person enter into such an arrangement, paying a thousand dirhams for the use of land whose rental value is a hundred dirhams, hoping that the fruit will be delivered to him and come into his possession, while remaining liable for the rent whether or not the fruit materializes? If he did so, would this be anything other than engaging in the very thing the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited?