The Book of Agriculture

Muhammad ibn ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubarak reported to us: Wakiʿ informed us: Sufyan narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, who said: I heard Ibn ʿUmar say: ‘We used to practice mukhabarah and saw no harm in it, until Rafiʿ ibn Khadij claimed that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had forbidden mukhabarah.’

ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Khalid reported to us: Hajjaj narrated to us: Ibn Jurayj said: I heard ʿAmr ibn Dinar say: “I testify that I heard Ibn ʿUmar being asked about khibr. He would say: ‘We saw no harm in it until last year, when Ibn Khadij informed us that he had heard the Prophet ﷺ forbid khibr.’” Hammad ibn Zayd agreed with them.

Yahya ibn Habib ibn ʿArabi reported to us, from Hammad ibn Zayd, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, who said: I heard Ibn ʿUmar say: ‘We saw no harm in khibr until last year, when Rafiʿ claimed that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ had forbidden it.’ ʿArim differed, saying: from Hammad, from ʿAmr, from Jabir.

Harami ibn Yunus narrated to us: ʿArim narrated to us: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, from Jabir ibn ʿAbdullah, that the Prophet ﷺ forbade renting land. Muhammad ibn Muslim al-Taʾifi corroborated him.

Muhammad ibn ʿAmir informed me: Surayj narrated to us: Muhammad ibn Muslim narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, from Jabir, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade me from mukhabarah, muhaqalah, and muzabanah. Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah combined the two reports, saying: from Ibn ʿUmar and Jabir.

ʿAbdullah ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-Miswar reported to us: Sufyan ibn ʿUyaynah narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Dinar, from Ibn ʿUmar and Jabir, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade selling fruit until its ripeness became apparent, and forbade mukhabarah—renting land for a third or a quarter [of its produce]. Abu al-Najashi ʿAtaʾ ibn Suhayb also narrated it, and there is disagreement over his transmission.

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ismaʿil al-Tabarani reported to us: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Bahr narrated to us: Mubarak ibn Saʿid narrated to us: Yahya ibn Abi Kathir narrated to us: Abu al-Najashi narrated to me: Rafiʿ ibn Khadij narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: “Do you lease your fields?” I replied: “Yes, Messenger of Allah, we lease them for a quarter or for a specified number of wasqs of barley.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do not do that. Cultivate them, lend them, or keep them.” Al-Awzaʿi differed, saying: from Rafiʿ, from Zuhayr ibn Rafiʿ.

Hisham ibn ʿAmmar reported to us: Yahya ibn Hamzah narrated to us: al-Awzaʿi narrated to me, from Abu al-Najashi, from Rafiʿ, who said: Zuhayr ibn Rafiʿ came to us and said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade me something that had been beneficial to us.” I asked: “What was that?” He said: “The Messenger of Allah’s command is true. He asked me: ‘What do you do with your fields?’ I said: ‘We lease them for a quarter or for measured quantities of dates or barley.’ He said: ‘Do not do that. Cultivate them, have them cultivated, or keep them.’” Bukayr ibn ʿAbdullah ibn al-Ashajj narrated it from Usayd ibn Rafiʿ, making the narrator Rafiʿ’s brother.

Muhammad ibn Hatim reported to us: Hibban narrated to us: ʿAbdullah ibn al-Mubarak narrated to us, from Layth, who said: Bukayr ibn ʿAbdullah ibn al-Ashajj narrated to me, from Usayd ibn Rafiʿ ibn Khadij, that a brother of Rafiʿ said to his people: ‘Today the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has forbidden something that had been beneficial to you. His command must be obeyed and is better for you. He has forbidden al-haql.’

Al-Rabiʿ ibn Sulayman reported to us: Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth narrated to us, from al-Layth, from Jaʿfar ibn Rabiʿah, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Hurmuz, who said: I heard Usayd ibn Rafiʿ ibn Khadij al-Ansari mention that they prohibited muhaqalah, which is land cultivated in exchange for a share of what it produces. ʿIsa ibn Sahl ibn Rafiʿ also narrated it.

Muhammad ibn Hatim reported to us: Hibban informed us: ʿAbdullah informed us, from Saʿid ibn Yazid Abu Shujaʿ, who said: ʿIsa ibn Sahl ibn Rafiʿ ibn Khadij narrated to me: “I was an orphan in the care of my grandfather, Rafiʿ ibn Khadij. When I came of age, I performed Hajj with him. My brother ʿImran ibn Sahl ibn Rafiʿ ibn Khadij came and said: ‘Father, we have rented such-and-such land for two hundred dirhams.’ He said: ‘My son, leave that. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will provide you with another livelihood. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade renting land.’”

Al-Husayn ibn Muhammad reported to us: Ismaʿil ibn Ibrahim narrated to us: ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ishaq narrated to us, from Abu ʿUbaydah ibn Muhammad, from al-Walid ibn Abi al-Walid, from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, who said: Zayd ibn Thabit said: “May Allah forgive Rafiʿ ibn Khadij. By Allah, I know the hadith better than he does. It was only that two men had quarreled, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: ‘If this is how things are with you, then do not lease out farms.’ He heard the words, ‘Do not lease out farms.’” Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman said: This is a written sharecropping agreement in which the seed and expenses are borne by the landowner, and the cultivator receives one quarter of what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, produces from it: “This is a document written by so-and-so, son of so-and-so, while in sound health and legally competent, for so-and-so, son of so-and-so. You have handed over to me all your land located at such-and-such place in such-and-such city, known as such-and-such. It is enclosed by four boundaries: one entire boundary adjoins such-and-such; the second, third, and fourth are [as specified]. You have handed over to me all this land, described and bounded in this document, together with all its rights, water rights, rivers, and irrigation channels. It is bare, empty land containing no trees or crops, for one complete year, beginning on the first day of such-and-such month of such-and-such year and ending at the close of such-and-such month of such-and-such year. “You have handed it over to me so that I may cultivate all this bounded land, whose location is described in this document, throughout the specified year, from beginning to end, planting whatever I choose: wheat, barley, sesame, rice, cotton, fresh produce, broad beans, chickpeas, cowpeas, lentils, gourds, melons, carrots, turnips, radishes, onions, garlic, vegetables, herbs, and all other crops, in winter and summer, using your seed and sowing grain; all of that is at your expense, not mine. I undertake the work with my own hands and with whatever helpers, hired workers, oxen, and tools I choose: cultivating and improving it, doing whatever will promote its growth and benefit, ploughing the land, clearing its weeds, watering whatever has been planted that needs watering, fertilizing whatever needs fertilizing, digging its irrigation channels and waterways, gathering whatever is gathered from it, harvesting whatever is harvested, collecting it, threshing what is threshed, and winnowing it. All of these expenses are yours, not mine; I will perform all the work with my own hands and helpers, without your labor. “Of everything Allah, Mighty and Majestic, produces from it during the entire period specified in this document, from beginning to end, you will receive three quarters, in return for your share of the land, its water rights, seed, and expenses. I will receive the remaining quarter in return for my cultivation, labor, and personal work with my helpers. “You have handed over to me all this land, bounded in this document, with all its rights and facilities, and I received it from you on such-and-such day of such-and-such month in such-and-such year. It is now all in my possession on your behalf; I have no ownership claim or demand concerning any of it except for the sharecropping arrangement described in this document for the year named here. When that year ends, all of it is returned to you and your possession. You may then remove me from it and remove it from my possession and from the possession of anyone who obtained control of it through me.” So-and-so and so-and-so acknowledged this, and this document was written in two copies.

ʿAmr ibn Zurarah reported to us: Ismaʿil informed us: Ibn ʿAwn narrated to us that Muhammad used to say: ‘To me, land is like a mudarabah investment: whatever is valid in a mudarabah investment is valid with land, and whatever is not valid in a mudarabah investment is not valid with land.’ He saw no harm in giving his land to a cultivator on the condition that the cultivator work it with his own labor, his children, helpers, and oxen, contribute nothing in expenses, and have all expenses paid by the landowner.

Qutaybah reported to us: al-Layth narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with them both), that the Prophet ﷺ gave the Jews of Khaybar its date palms and land on the condition that they cultivate them using their own resources, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would receive half of what they produced.

ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbd al-Hakam reported to us: Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth narrated to us: My father narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Nafiʿ, from Ibn ʿUmar, that the Prophet ﷺ gave the Jews of Khaybar its date palms and land on the condition that they cultivate them using their own resources, and that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would receive half of its fruit.

ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAbdullah ibn ʿAbd al-Hakam reported to us: Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth narrated to us, from his father, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman, from Nafiʿ, that ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar used to say: ‘In the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, farms were leased on the condition that the landowner would receive what grew along the irrigating watercourse and a portion of the straw—I do not know how much.’

ʿAli ibn Hujr reported to us: Sharik informed us, from Abu Ishaq, from ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-Aswad, who said: ‘My two paternal uncles used to cultivate land for a third or a quarter. My father was their partner, and ʿAlqamah and al-Aswad knew of it but did not object.’

Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿla narrated to us: al-Muʿtamir narrated to us: I heard Maʿmar, from ʿAbd al-Karim al-Jazari, who said: Saʿid ibn Jubayr said that Ibn ʿAbbas said: ‘The best thing you can do is for one of you to rent out his land for gold and silver.’

Qutaybah reported to us: Jarir narrated to us, from Mansur, from Ibrahim and Saʿid ibn Jubayr, that neither of them saw any harm in renting fallow land.

ʿAmr ibn Zurarah reported to us: Ismaʿil narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Muhammad, who said: “I know of only two rulings that Shurayh gave concerning a mudarib. Sometimes he would say to the mudarib: ‘Bring your evidence for a loss that would excuse you.’ At other times he would say to the owner of the capital: ‘Bring your evidence that your trustee has acted dishonestly; otherwise, the trustee must swear by Allah that he did not betray you.’”