a natural calamity prevents him from obtaining what the lease is intended to provide, then the intended object of the contract has been lost before he could take possession of it. Although the lessor did not receive payment for a crop, he did receive payment for the benefit that enables the lessee to obtain a crop. Thus, if a natural calamity destroys the crop before it can be harvested, the benefit contracted for has not been secured; rather, it has been lost before it could be enjoyed. There is no difference between the land becoming unusable at the beginning of the lease term or at its end, if the lessee has been unable to derive any benefit from it. Clearly, if a natural calamity causes the crop to be lost altogether, such that the land cannot be put to use under those conditions, it makes no difference whether the calamity strikes early or late. The question of “leasing orchards for a fixed payment” rests on this principle. And Allah knows best.

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

Is it permissible to lease out orchards before their fruit ripens?

He replied:

As for leasing out one’s garden or orchard containing date palms, grapevines, and other trees, for a specified payment, to someone who tends the trees and cultivates the land: some scholars have prohibited this, considering it to fall under the Prophet’s prohibition—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—of selling fruit before its soundness becomes apparent.