Another narration transmitted by Aḥmad and Muslim from Jābir states: “We used to practise mukhābarah in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, taking a share of the qisrā (1) and the like. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Whoever owns land should cultivate it himself, or let his brother cultivate it; otherwise he should leave it uncultivated.’

These ḥadiths are the evidence for those who hold that muzāraʿah is impermissible and regard it as unlawful and void. They also reinforce the principle on which they base that ruling: muzāraʿah, they argue, is a form of leasing (ijārah), and in leasing the wage must be known, as it functions like a sale price. Because the consideration in muzāraʿah is unknown, they deem it forbidden and invalid.

Imam Aḥmad—may Allah have mercy on him—ruled it permissible and counted it among the sound, established contracts. A number of Companions had already preceded him in that view and put it into practice—among them ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Saʿd ibn Mālik, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, may Allah be pleased with them.

A large group of leading Successors likewise upheld this position: ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, Ibn Sīrīn, Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, Ṭāwūs, al-Zuhrī, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā. Many jurist-ḥadith scholars agreed as well, including Abū Yūsuf and Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, the two foremost pupils of Abū Ḥanīfah, Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Imām al-Bukhārī, and Abū Dāwūd.

Among the later ḥadith authorities who adopted the same opinion are Ibn al-Munḏir, Ibn Khuzaymah, Ibn Surayj, and al-Khaṭṭābī. Scholars of independent schools—such as the Ẓāhirīs—and many of the Ḥanafīs likewise defended it. Al-Nawawī said, “This is the preponderant, preferred view.” Muslims in every land and era have continued to engage in muzāraʿah, and Ibn Khuzaymah authored an excellent treatise demonstrating its permissibility.

The Ḥanbalī jurists—both the critical scholars and the followers—supported Imam Aḥmad in allowing it. Their chief proof is the Prophet’s ﷺ contract with the Jews of Khaybar, a famous case that admits neither rejection nor reinterpretation. That arrangement remained in force from the time it was concluded until ʿUmar expelled them from Khaybar during his caliphate, showing decisively that it was never abrogated or altered.