The Book of Agriculture

ʿIsa ibn Muhammad—Abu ʿUmayr ibn al-Nahhas—and ʿIsa ibn Yunus—al-Fakhuri—reported to us; they said: Damrah narrated to us, from Ibn Shawdhab, from Matar, from ʿAtaʾ, from Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ addressed us and said: ‘Whoever has land should cultivate it or have it cultivated, and should not rent it out.’

Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim informed me, from Yunus, who said: Hammad narrated to us, from Matar, from ʿAtaʾ, from Jabir—attributing it to the Prophet ﷺ—that he forbade renting out land. ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAziz ibn Jurayj agreed with the prohibition on renting out land.

Qutaybah reported to us: al-Mufaddal narrated to us, from Ibn Jurayj, from ʿAtaʾ and Abu al-Zubayr, from Jabir, that the Prophet ﷺ forbade mukhabarah, muzabanah, muhaqalah, and selling fruit before it was fit to eat, except for araya sales. Yunus ibn ʿUbayd corroborated him.

Ziyad ibn Ayyub informed me: ʿAbbad ibn al-ʿAwwam narrated to us: Sufyan ibn Husayn narrated to us: Yunus ibn ʿUbayd narrated to us, from ʿAtaʾ, from Jabir, that the Prophet ﷺ forbade muhaqalah, muzabanah, mukhabarah, and ath-thunya, except when it is clearly specified. In the version of Hammam ibn Yahya is evidence that ʿAtaʾ did not hear from Jabir his report from the Prophet ﷺ: “Whoever has land should cultivate it.”

Ahmad ibn Yahya informed me: Abu Nuʿaym narrated to us: Hammam ibn Yahya said: Sulayman ibn Musa asked ʿAtaʾ, who said: Jabir related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Whoever has land should cultivate it or have his brother cultivate it, and he should not rent it to his brother.’ Yazid ibn Nuʿaym also narrated the prohibition of muhaqalah from Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah.

Muhammad ibn Idris reported to us: Abu Tawbah narrated to us: Muʿawiyah ibn Sallam narrated to us, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Yazid ibn Nuʿaym, from Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah, that the Prophet ﷺ forbade al-haql, which is muzabanah. Hisham differed from him, narrating it from Yahya, from Abu Salamah, from Jabir.

The trustworthy narrator reported to us: Hammad ibn Masʿadah narrated to us, from Hisham ibn ʿAbdullah, from Yahya ibn Abi Kathir, from Abu Salamah, from Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah, that the Prophet ﷺ forbade muzabanah and mukhadarah. He said: “Mukhadarah is selling fruit before it ripens, and mukhabarah is selling the grapes for such-and-such saʿs.” ʿAmr ibn Abi Salamah differed from him, saying: from his father, from Abu Hurayrah.

ʿAmr ibn ʿAli reported to us: ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Saʿd ibn Ibrahim, from ʿUmar ibn Abi Salamah, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah and muzabanah. Muhammad ibn ʿAmr differed from them, saying: from Abu Salamah, from Abu Saʿid.

Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubarak reported to us: Yahya—meaning Ibn Adam—narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Rahim narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAmr, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Saʿid al-Khudri, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah and muzabanah. Al-Aswad ibn al-ʿAlaʾ differed from them, saying: from Abu Salamah, from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij.

Zakariyya ibn Yahya reported to us: Muhammad ibn Yazid ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: ʿAbdullah ibn Humran narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Hamid ibn Jaʿfar narrated to us, from al-Aswad ibn al-ʿAlaʾ, from Abu Salamah, from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah and muzabanah. Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad also narrated it from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij.

ʿAmr ibn ʿAli reported to us: Abu ʿAsim narrated to us: ʿUthman ibn Murrah narrated to us: I asked al-Qasim about sharecropping, and he related from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah and muzabanah. Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman said: “Elsewhere.”

ʿAmr ibn ʿAli reported to us: Abu ʿAsim said, from ʿUthman ibn Murrah, who said: I asked al-Qasim about renting out land. He said: Rafiʿ ibn Khadij said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade renting out land. There is disagreement over its transmission from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib.

Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna reported to us: Yahya narrated to us, from Abu Jaʿfar al-Khatmi—whose name was ʿUmayr ibn Yazid—who said: My uncle sent me and a servant boy of his to Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib to ask him about sharecropping. He said: “Ibn ʿUmar saw no harm in it until a report from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij reached him. He met him, and Rafiʿ said: The Prophet ﷺ came to Banu Harithah and saw a crop. He said: ‘How fine is Zuhayr’s crop!’ They said: ‘It does not belong to Zuhayr.’ He asked: ‘Is it not Zuhayr’s land?’ They said: ‘Yes, but he had it planted.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘Take your crop and repay him his expenses.’” He said: “We took our crop and repaid him his expenses.” Tariq ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman also narrated it from Saʿid, and there is disagreement over that route.

Qutaybah reported to us: Abu al-Ahwas narrated to us, from Tariq, from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah and muzabanah and said: “Only three kinds of people cultivate land: a man who owns land and cultivates it; a man who is granted land and cultivates what was granted to him; and a man who rents land for gold or silver.” Israʾil distinguished this report from Tariq’s version: he transmitted the first statement as mursal and treated the final words as Saʿid’s own statement.

Ahmad ibn Sulayman reported to us: ʿUbaydullah ibn Musa narrated to us: Israʾil informed us, from Tariq, from Saʿid, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah.’ Saʿid then mentioned a similar report. Sufyan al-Thawri also narrated it from Tariq.

Muhammad ibn ʿAli—meaning Ibn Maymun—reported to us: Muhammad narrated to us: Sufyan narrated to us, from Tariq, who said: I heard Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib say: ‘Cultivation is proper only in three cases: land whose title one owns, land granted to one, or open land rented for gold or silver.’ Al-Zuhri narrated the first statement from Saʿid as a mursal report.

Al-Harith ibn Miskin said, as it was read to him while I listened: Ibn al-Qasim narrated to us: Malik narrated to me, from Ibn Shihab, from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade muhaqalah and muzabanah. Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Labibah also narrated it from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, who said it was from Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas.

ʿUbaydullah ibn Saʿd ibn Ibrahim reported to us: My paternal uncle narrated to me: My father narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿIkrimah, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Labibah, from Saʿid ibn al-Musayyib, from Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas, who said: The owners of farms in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to lease their fields for the crop that grew along the irrigating watercourse. They came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and disputed some of these arrangements, so he forbade them to lease land on that basis and said: “Lease it for gold or silver.” Sulayman also narrated this hadith from Rafiʿ, saying it was from one of his paternal uncles.

Ziyad ibn Ayyub informed me: Ibn ʿUlayyah narrated to us: Ayyub informed us, from Yaʿla ibn Hakim, from Sulayman ibn Yasar, from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, who said: In the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, we practiced sharecropping, leasing land for a third, a quarter, or a specified quantity of food. One day a man from my paternal uncles came and said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade me something that had benefited us, but obedience to Allah and His Messenger is more beneficial for us. He forbade us to sharecrop land or lease it for a third, a quarter, or a specified quantity of food. He ordered the landowner to cultivate it or have it cultivated, and he disapproved of leasing it and anything besides that.” Ayyub did not hear this directly from Yaʿla.

Zakariyya ibn Yahya informed me: Muhammad ibn ʿUbayd narrated to us: Hammad narrated to us, from Ayyub, who said: Yaʿla ibn Hakim wrote to me: I heard Sulayman ibn Yasar narrating from Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, who said: ‘We practiced sharecropping, leasing land for a third, a quarter, or a specified quantity of food.’ Saʿid also narrated it from Yaʿla ibn Hakim.