after it, as established by authentic hadiths. As for taking orchards under contract for one or more years, so that the contracting party may obtain their yield through his own irrigation and labour, in an arrangement resembling a lease, there is disagreement. Likewise, if one kind of fruit, such as mulberries, begins to ripen, may the fruit of the entire orchard be sold? There is disagreement concerning this too. The stronger view is that both arrangements are permissible, as has been discussed at length elsewhere.

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

A man leases land for cultivation, but a calamity strikes his crop and destroys it. Does the rule concerning calamity losses apply, or not?

He replied:

When someone leases land for cultivation and a calamity strikes his crop, this concerns “the question of reducing the price for calamity losses affecting fruit.” If someone purchases fruit whose ripeness has become apparent, and a calamity destroys it before it is fully ripe, the seller bears the loss according to the jurists of Medina, such as Mālik and others, and the jurists of hadith, such as Ahmad and others. This is also a conditional position of al-Shāfi'ī, who made his ruling dependent upon the authenticity of the hadith.

The hadith is indeed authentically recorded in Sahīh Muslim, from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who said: