A Question on Leasing

The questioner : Many places that were leased long ago have contracts that explicitly state "lease and sublease," meaning the tenant has the right to re-lease the property. In this case, the tenant of a shop in central Amman, which is one of the most important commercial areas, took the shop for fifteen dinars, whereas its current rent is in the thousands. He has the right, under the secular law that protects his status, to lease it to someone else. And so, once again, to reach an agreement, they resort to these methods, taking very high fees and trying to satisfy the original property owner, and so on. This is an injustice of the secular law against both parties. This was the case in Saudi Arabia until nine years ago, when the owner and property holder could not increase the rent for the tenant. Then, just nine years ago, this was changed so that the property owner has the right to notify the tenant of a rent increase as he sees fit, or else the tenant must vacate. In reality, we experienced this issue at the beginning because we had offices for the airlines, and I lived through this situation. We believed that there would be a flaw in this matter, considering that the property owner might abuse his right. But we later discovered that, since there are many property owners and it has become a matter of supply and demand and freedom, the process regulated itself, as you mentioned, because everyone wants to lease and no one wants to leave their property empty. Therefore, as long as there are many lessors and many lessees, there is automatic balance, and no one can abuse this right except within a very small margin. And the proof is, glory be to Allah, that the Shari'ah does not come with injustice to anyone, but the flaw lies in the hearts and practices of people.