the Faithful, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb. He leased out the orchard of Usayd ibn Hudayr for three years, received the rent, and used it to settle Usayd’s debt. This was related by Harb al-Kirmānī, a companion of Imam Ahmad, in his well-known collection of questions answered by Ahmad. It was also related by Abū Zur‘a al-Dimashqī and others, and is well known as an action of ‘Umar. Trees predominate in the orchards of Medina.

One of the Zāhirī jurists of the Maghreb mentioned this report from ‘Umar in his writings and claimed that it contradicted scholarly consensus. This claim has no substance; indeed, a claim of consensus permitting it would be more plausible. ‘Umar did this in the Prophet’s city, in the presence of the Emigrants and the Helpers. This was a matter likely to become widely known, yet no objection to it has been reported from anyone. They would object to lesser matters, even when ‘Umar himself did them, just as ‘Imrān ibn Husayn and others objected to his stance on combining ‘umrah with Hajj. This case is comparable to ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān’s ruling that the wife of ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn ‘Awf should inherit from him, although he had irrevocably divorced her during his final illness, and to similar cases. What ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb did was correct.

When a jurist reflects on the foundational principles of the Sharia, it becomes clear to him that property of this kind does not fall within the scope of what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited. This becomes evident in several ways:

First, it is well known that land can be leased, and that the grain growing on it can be sold before it hardens. Yet when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prohibited selling grain before it hardens, this did not constitute a prohibition on leasing land