What is the legal ruling regarding Musaqah (sharecropping contract)?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Sharecropping (Musāqāh)
Primary text
Musaqah, defined as a contract where one person entrusts their trees to another to manage, water, and maintain in exchange for a known share of the resulting fruit, is permissible. The basis for its permissibility is the Sunnah and Ijma (scholarly consensus). The Sunnah is established by the report that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) contracted with the people of Khaybar for half of whatever came out of their fruit or crops. This hadith is authentic and agreed upon. The Ijma is evidenced by the practice of the Rashidun Caliphs—Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali—who maintained the Prophet’s dealings in Khaybar, subsequently giving one-third or one-quarter shares, a practice that continued to the present and was widely known without objection, thus establishing consensus.
Supporting text
Some hold that the permissibility is invalidated by the report from Rafi' ibn Khadij that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) forbade Mukhabarah (a form of sharecropping), which allegedly abrogated the tradition of dealing with Khaybar. Furthermore, some jurists argue that Musaqah is void because it constitutes leasing for fruit that has not yet been created or is unknown, akin to leasing one's own labor for the fruit of a tree other than the one being watered. Additionally, some limit its validity only to date palms, or date palms and grapevines, based on specific narrations or because Zakat becomes due on their produce.