Is leasing land for a fixed rent while simultaneously agreeing to share the harvest in a highly disproportionate ratio permissible?
Chapter on Riba (Usury) and Exchange (Sarf)
Al-Mughni
Book of Sales
Primary text
It is forbidden to use a device to sell that which is prohibited, such as leasing the bare land for a known rent, and then agreeing to share the fruit of the trees such that the landowner receives a minuscule fraction (e.g., one part out of a thousand) and the worker receives the vast majority. The intention for both parties is merely to effect the sale of the fruit before its ripening stage, using the stipulated rent as a cover price. If the fruit is destroyed by calamity (Ja'iha), the tenant seeks compensation for the loss based on the belief that their payment was solely for the fruit, a reality the landowner is aware of.