Reconciling the prohibition narratives (based on Rafi' and Ibn 'Umar) with the permissibility narratives (based on Khaybar practice).
Chapter on Sharecropping (Muzara'ah)
Al-Mughni
Book of Sharecropping (Musāqāh)
Primary text
The Khaybar practice, where the Prophet dealt with the people by taking half the produce, stands as established Sunnah and general ruling, being continuously acted upon by the Prophet until his death, by the Caliphs, and by the general populace of Medina. If the prohibition narrations were sound, they must be interpreted in a way that reconciles them with the established Sunnah, which is deemed close to being *tawatur* (mass-transmitted) in practice. This reconciliation is achieved by interpreting the prohibition against leasing for a fixed portion of the land or a fixed amount of crop when the yield is uncertain, as this was deemed harmful or unfair in certain contexts reported by Rafi'. Alternatively, the prohibition is deemed abrogated by the continuous established practice concerning Khaybar.
Supporting text
The interpretation that differentiates the rulings by applying the prohibition to barren white land ('ard bayda') and allowing it on land already containing palm trees (if the palm area is smaller) is deemed unlikely because the Khaybar narration was general, and such detailed distinctions were not reported by those narrating the general story. The preferred view is that the prohibition narratives are either misinterpreted, not applying to Muzara'ah based on a share of the actual yield, or abrogated by the established, non-contradicted practice dating from the Prophet's time through the Caliphates.