Muwatta Malik

Sharecropping

كتاب المساقاة

Book 33
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Translation
Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Sulayman ibn Yasar thatthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, usedto send Abdullah ibn Rawaha to Khaybar, to assess the division of thefruit crop between him and the jews of Khaybar.The jewscollected for Abdullah pieces of their women's jewellery and said tohim, "This is yours. Go light on us and don't be exact in thedivision!"Abdullah ibn Rawaha said, "O tribe of jews! ByAllah! You are among the most hateful to me of Allah's creation, butit does not prompt me to deal unjustly with you. What you have offeredas a bribe is forbidden. We will not touch it." They said, "This iswhat supports the heavens and the earth."Malik said, "If ashare-cropper waters the palms and between them there is someuncultivated land, whatever he cultivates in the uncultivated land ishis."Malik said, "If the owner of the land makes a conditionthat he will cultivate the uncultivated land for himself, that is notgood because the sharecropper does the watering for the owner of theland and so he increases the owner of the land in property (withoutany return for himself)."Malik said, "If the ownerstipulates that the fruit crop is to be shared between them, there isno harm in that if all the maintenance of the property - seeding,watering and case, etc. - are the concern of the sharecropper.If the share-cropper stipulates that the seeds are theresponsibility of the owner of the property - that is not permittedbecause he has stipulated an outlay against the owner of the property.Share-cropping is conducted on the basis that all the care and expenseis outlayed by the share-cropper, and the owner of the property is notobliged anything. This is the accepted method of share-cropping."Malik spoke about a spring which was shared between two men, andthen the water dried up and one of them wanted to work on the springand the other said, "I don't have the means to work on it." He said,"Tell the one who wants to work on the spring, 'Work and expend. Allthe water will be yours. You will have its water until your companionbrings you half of what you have spent. If he brings you half of whatyou have spent, he can take his share of the water.' The first one isgiven all the water, because he has spent on it, and if he does notreach anything by his work, the other has not incurred any expense."Malik said, "It is not good for a share-cropper not to expendanything but his labour and to be hired for a share of the fruit whileall the expense and work is incurred by the owner of the garden,because the share-cropper does not know what the exact wage is goingto be for his labour, whether it will be little or great."Malik said, "No-one who lends a qirad or grants a share-croppingcontract, should exempt some of the wealth, or some of the trees fromhis agent, because, by that, the agent becomes his hired man. He says,'I will grant you a share-crop provided that you work for me on such-and-such a palm - water it and tend it. I will give you a qirad forsuch-and-such money provided that you work for me with ten dinars.They are not part of the qirad I have given you.' That must not bedone and it is not good. This is what is done in our community."Malik said, "The sunna about what is permitted to an owner of agarden in share-cropping is that he can stipulate to the share-cropperthe maintenance of walls, cleaning the spring, sweeping the irrigationcanals, pollinating the palms, pruning branches, harvesting the fruitand such things, provided that the share-cropper has a share of thefruit fixed by mutual agreement. However, the owner cannot stipulatethe beginning of new work which the agent will start digging a well,raising the source of a well, instigating new planting, or building acistern whose cost is great. That is as if the owner of the gardensaid to a certain man, 'Build me a house here or dig me a well or makea spring flow for me or do some work for me for half the fruit of thisgarden of mine,' before the fruit of the garden is sound and it ishalal to sell it. This is the sale of fruit before its good conditionis clear. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, forbade fruit to be sold before its good condition becameclear."Malik said, "If the fruits are good and their goodcondition is clear and selling them is halal and then the owner asks aman to do one of those jobs for him, specifying the job, for half thefruit of his garden, for example, there is no harm in that. He hashired the man for something recognised and known. The man has seen itand is satisfied with it."As for share-cropping, if thegarden has no fruit or little or bad fruit, he has only that. Thelabourer is only hired for a set amount, and hire is only permitted onthese terms. Hire is a type of sale. One man buys another man's workfrom him. It is not good if uncertainty enters into it because theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbadeuncertain transactions."Malik said, "The sunna in share-cropping with us is that it can be practised with any kind of fruittree, palm, vine, olive tree, pomegranate, peach, and soon. It ispermitted, and there is no harm in it provided that the owner of theproperty has a share of the fruit

Yahya said that Malik said, "The best of what has been heardabout a sharecropper stipulating on the owner of the property theinclusion of some slave workers, is that there is no harm in that ifthey are workers that come with the property. They are like theproperty. There is no profit in them for the share-cropper except tolighten some of his burden. If they did not come with the property,his toil would be harder. It is like share-cropping land with a springor land with a watering trough. You will not find anyone who receivesthe same share for share-cropping two lands which are equal inproperty and yield, when one property has a constant plentiful springand the other has a watering trough, because of the lightness ofworking land with a spring, and the hardship of working land with awatering trough."

Malik added, "That is what is done in ourcommunity."

Malik said, "A share-cropper cannot employworkers from the property in other work, and he cannot make that astipulation with the one who gives him the share-cropping contract.Nor is it permitted to one who share-crops to stipulate on the ownerof the property inclusion of slaves for use in the garden who are notin it when he makes the share-cropping contract."

"Nor mustthe owner of the property stipulate on the one who uses his propertyfor share-cropping that he take any of the slaves of the property andremove him from the property. The share-cropping of property is basedon the state which it is currently in."

"If the owner of theproperty wants to remove one of the slaves of the property, he removeshim before the share-cropping, or if he wants to put someone into theproperty, he does it before the share-cropping. Then he grants theshare-cropping contract after that if he wishes. If any of the slavesdie or go off or become ill, the owner of the property must replacethem."

Book 33, Hadith 1
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Translation

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Said ibn al-Musayyab that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and granthim peace, said to the jews of Khaybar on the day of the conquest ofKhaybar, "I confirm you in it as long as Allah, the Mighty, theMajestic, establishes you in it, provided that the fruits are dividedbetween us and you." Said continued, "The Messenger of Allah, mayAllah bless him and grant him peace, used to send Abdullah ibn Rawaha,to assess the division of the fruit crop between him and them, and hewould say, 'If you wish, you can buy it back, and if you wish, it ismine.' They would take it."

Book 33, Hadith 2
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Translation
Malik related to me from Ibn Shihab from Sulayman ibn Yasar thatthe Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, usedto send Abdullah ibn Rawaha to Khaybar, to assess the division of thefruit crop between him and the jews of Khaybar.The jewscollected for Abdullah pieces of their women's jewellery and said tohim, "This is yours. Go light on us and don't be exact in thedivision!"Abdullah ibn Rawaha said, "O tribe of jews! ByAllah! You are among the most hateful to me of Allah's creation, butit does not prompt me to deal unjustly with you. What you have offeredas a bribe is forbidden. We will not touch it." They said, "This iswhat supports the heavens and the earth."Malik said, "If ashare-cropper waters the palms and between them there is someuncultivated land, whatever he cultivates in the uncultivated land ishis."Malik said, "If the owner of the land makes a conditionthat he will cultivate the uncultivated land for himself, that is notgood because the sharecropper does the watering for the owner of theland and so he increases the owner of the land in property (withoutany return for himself)."Malik said, "If the ownerstipulates that the fruit crop is to be shared between them, there isno harm in that if all the maintenance of the property - seeding,watering and case, etc. - are the concern of the sharecropper.If the share-cropper stipulates that the seeds are theresponsibility of the owner of the property - that is not permittedbecause he has stipulated an outlay against the owner of the property.Share-cropping is conducted on the basis that all the care and expenseis outlayed by the share-cropper, and the owner of the property is notobliged anything. This is the accepted method of share-cropping."Malik spoke about a spring which was shared between two men, andthen the water dried up and one of them wanted to work on the springand the other said, "I don't have the means to work on it." He said,"Tell the one who wants to work on the spring, 'Work and expend. Allthe water will be yours. You will have its water until your companionbrings you half of what you have spent. If he brings you half of whatyou have spent, he can take his share of the water.' The first one isgiven all the water, because he has spent on it, and if he does notreach anything by his work, the other has not incurred any expense."Malik said, "It is not good for a share-cropper not to expendanything but his labour and to be hired for a share of the fruit whileall the expense and work is incurred by the owner of the garden,because the share-cropper does not know what the exact wage is goingto be for his labour, whether it will be little or great."Malik said, "No-one who lends a qirad or grants a share-croppingcontract, should exempt some of the wealth, or some of the trees fromhis agent, because, by that, the agent becomes his hired man. He says,'I will grant you a share-crop provided that you work for me on such-and-such a palm - water it and tend it. I will give you a qirad forsuch-and-such money provided that you work for me with ten dinars.They are not part of the qirad I have given you.' That must not bedone and it is not good. This is what is done in our community."Malik said, "The sunna about what is permitted to an owner of agarden in share-cropping is that he can stipulate to the share-cropperthe maintenance of walls, cleaning the spring, sweeping the irrigationcanals, pollinating the palms, pruning branches, harvesting the fruitand such things, provided that the share-cropper has a share of thefruit fixed by mutual agreement. However, the owner cannot stipulatethe beginning of new work which the agent will start digging a well,raising the source of a well, instigating new planting, or building acistern whose cost is great. That is as if the owner of the gardensaid to a certain man, 'Build me a house here or dig me a well or makea spring flow for me or do some work for me for half the fruit of thisgarden of mine,' before the fruit of the garden is sound and it ishalal to sell it. This is the sale of fruit before its good conditionis clear. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant himpeace, forbade fruit to be sold before its good condition becameclear."Malik said, "If the fruits are good and their goodcondition is clear and selling them is halal and then the owner asks aman to do one of those jobs for him, specifying the job, for half thefruit of his garden, for example, there is no harm in that. He hashired the man for something recognised and known. The man has seen itand is satisfied with it."As for share-cropping, if thegarden has no fruit or little or bad fruit, he has only that. Thelabourer is only hired for a set amount, and hire is only permitted onthese terms. Hire is a type of sale. One man buys another man's workfrom him. It is not good if uncertainty enters into it because theMessenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbadeuncertain transactions."Malik said, "The sunna in share-cropping with us is that it can be practised with any kind of fruittree, palm, vine, olive tree, pomegranate, peach, and soon. It ispermitted, and there is no harm in it provided that the owner of theproperty has a share of the fruit

Malik said, "Share-cropping is also permitted inany crop which emerges from the earth if it is a crop which is picked,and its owner cannot water, work on it and tend it.

"Share-cropping becomes reprehensible in anything in which share-cropping isnormally permitted if the fruit is sound and the good condition isclear and it is halal to sell it. He must share-crop in it the nextyear. If a man waters fruit whose good condition is clear and it ishalal to sell it, and he picks it for the owner, for a share of thecrop, it is not sharecropping. It is similar to him being paid indirhams and dinars. Share-cropping is what is between pruning thepalms and when the fruit becomes sound and its sale is halal."

Malik said, "If some one makes a share-cropping contract for fruittrees before the condition becomes clear and its sale is halal, it isshare-cropping and is permitted . "

Malik said, "Uncultivatedland must not be involved in a share-cropping contract. That isbecause it is halal for the owner to rent it for dinars and dirhams orthe equivalent for an accepted price."

Malik said, "As for aman who gives his uncultivated earth for a third or a fourth of whatcomes out of it, that is an uncertain transaction because crops may bescant one time and plentiful another time. It may perish completelyand the owner of the land will have abandoned a set rent which wouldhave been good for him to rent the land for. He takes an uncertainsituation, and does not know whether or not it will be satisfactory.This is disapproved. It is like a man having someone travel for himfor a set amount, and then saying, 'Shall I give you a tenth of theprofit of the journey as your wage?' This is not halal and must not bedone."

Malik summed up,"A man must not hire out himself orhis land or his ship unless for a set amount."

Malik said, "Adistinction is made between sharecropping in palms and in cultivatedland because the owner of the palms cannot sell the fruit until itsgood condition is clear. The owner of the land can rent it when it isuncultivated with nothing on it."

Malik said, "What is donein our community about palms is that they can also be share-croppedfor three and four years, and less or more than that."

Maliksaid, "That is what I have heard. Any fruit trees like that are in theposition of palms. Contracts for several years are permissible for thesharecropper as they are permissible in the palms."

Maliksaid about the owner, "He does not take anything additional from theshare-cropper in the way of gold or silver or crops which increaseshim. That is not good. The share-cropper also must not take from theowner of the garden anything additional which will increase him ofgold, silver, crops or anything. Increase beyond what is stipulated inthe contract is not good. It is also not good for the lender of aqirad to be in this position. If such an increase does enter share-cropping or quirad, it becomes by it hire. It is not good when hireenters it. Hire must never occur in a situation which has uncertaintyin it."

Malik spoke about a man who gave land to another manin a share-cropping contract in which there were palms, vines, or thelike of that of fruit trees and there was also uncultivated land init. He said, "If the uncultivated land is secondary to the fruittrees, either in importance or in size of land, there is no harm inshare-cropping. That is if the palms take up two-thirds of the land ormore, and the uncultivated land is a third or less. This is becausewhen the land that the fruit trees take up is secondary to theuncultivated land and the cultivated land in which the palms, vines orthe like is a third or less, and the uncultivated land is two-thirdsor more, it is permitted to rent the land and share-cropping in it isharam."

"One of the practices of people is to give outsharecropping contracts on property with fruit trees when there isuncultivated land in it, and to rent land while there are fruit treeson it, just as a Qur'an or sword which has some embellishment on it ofsilver is sold for silver, or a necklace or ring which have stones andgold in them are sold for dinars. These sales continue to bepermitted. People buy and sell by them. Nothing described orinstituted has come on that which if exceeded, makes it haram, and iffallen below makes it halal. What is done in our community about thatis what people practise and permit among themselves. That is, if thegold or silver is secondary to what it is incorporated in, it ispermitted to sell it. That is, if the value of the blade, the Qur'an,or the stones is two-thirds or more, and the value of the decorationis one-third or less."

Book 33, Hadith 3
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Translation

Yahya said that Malik said, "The best of what has been heardabout a sharecropper stipulating on the owner of the property theinclusion of some slave workers, is that there is no harm in that ifthey are workers that come with the property. They are like theproperty. There is no profit in them for the share-cropper except tolighten some of his burden. If they did not come with the property,his toil would be harder. It is like share-cropping land with a springor land with a watering trough. You will not find anyone who receivesthe same share for share-cropping two lands which are equal inproperty and yield, when one property has a constant plentiful springand the other has a watering trough, because of the lightness ofworking land with a spring, and the hardship of working land with awatering trough."

Malik added, "That is what is done in ourcommunity."

Malik said, "A share-cropper cannot employworkers from the property in other work, and he cannot make that astipulation with the one who gives him the share-cropping contract.Nor is it permitted to one who share-crops to stipulate on the ownerof the property inclusion of slaves for use in the garden who are notin it when he makes the share-cropping contract."

"Nor mustthe owner of the property stipulate on the one who uses his propertyfor share-cropping that he take any of the slaves of the property andremove him from the property. The share-cropping of property is basedon the state which it is currently in."

"If the owner of theproperty wants to remove one of the slaves of the property, he removeshim before the share-cropping, or if he wants to put someone into theproperty, he does it before the share-cropping. Then he grants theshare-cropping contract after that if he wishes. If any of the slavesdie or go off or become ill, the owner of the property must replacethem."