Is Musaqah (sharecropping contract for fruit trees) permissible for trees bearing no usable fruit?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Sharecropping (Musāqāh)

Book 24 · Issue 1 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

Musaqah is not permissible for trees that yield no usable fruit, such as willows (Safsaf) and walnuts (Jawz), or trees whose fruit is not the primary intended yield, such as pine (Sunawbar) and cedar (Arz). This view is held by Malik and Al-Shafi'i. The justification is that these trees are neither explicitly mentioned in the texts concerning Musaqah, nor do they fall under the meaning of those mentioned texts. Furthermore, Musaqah requires a share of the fruit, which these trees lack as a primary product.