Is an agreement valid stipulating a specific share based on the type of crop planted, when the choice of crop is left to the laborer?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Sharecropping (Musāqāh)
Primary text
An agreement stating that if the laborer plants wheat, they receive one-fourth of it, if barley, one-third, and if broad beans, one-half, is invalid. This is because the specific crop to be planted is unknown to the contracting parties, making it comparable to selling something for an indeterminate price, such as saying 'I sold it to you for ten sound coins or eleven broken ones.'
Supporting text
There is an alternative view that such an agreement might be valid, based on the permissibility of an analogous contract in lease agreements (Ijarah), where if the worker sews in the Roman style, they receive one dirham, and if in the Persian style, they receive half a dirham, which is considered valid according to established opinion.