That is what he said! Yet he mentioned no criticism or accreditation concerning him. Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd only narrated from him through Jaʿfar ibn Rabīʿah, as you see in this chain of transmission. Perhaps he narrated from him directly in a hadith other than this one. Ibn Ḥibbān also mentioned his narration from him in The Reliable Successors (2/189), saying: “ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Sāʾib ibn ʿUmayr al-Qārī, one of the people of Medina, narrated from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib and ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Azhar. Ibn Jurayj and Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd narrated from him.” All the remaining narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections. Thus, the chain is good, and the hadith is authentic in light of its well-known supporting narrations, one of which has preceded under no. 714.
- “Only three people cultivate: a man who owns land and cultivates it; a man who has been granted land and cultivates what he was granted; and a man who rents land for gold or silver.”
Abū Dāwūd (3400), al-Nasāʾī (2/149), Ibn Mājah (2449), and al-Ṭaḥāwī in al-Mushkil (3/284) recorded it through Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, who said: Ṭāriq ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Rāfiʿ ibn Khadīj, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, prohibited muḥāqalah (leasing land in return for a share of its produce) and muzābanah (bartering fresh dates for dried dates), and said...” Then he cited it.
I say: This is a good chain of transmission; all its narrators are trustworthy and are among the narrators of the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections. There is some critical discussion concerning the route of Ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—who was al-Bajalī al-Aḥmasī—but it is not detrimental, Allah willing. The hadith has numerous supporting narrations in the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections and elsewhere, and it is explicit evidence for the permissibility of renting land for cultivation in exchange for gold or silver currency, contrary to the view of some.
- “What is sufficient for any one of you in this world is only like the provision of a rider.”
Abū Yaʿlā (4/1729–1730) and al-Ṭabarānī in al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr (no. —