What are musaqat and muzara'ah, what is their ruling, and what is the wisdom behind their legislation?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : This questioner, Hadi Nasser, asks: What are musaqat and muzara'ah, what is their ruling, and what is the wisdom behind their legislation? May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. Musaqat and muzara'ah are two types of transactions that Allah the Exalted and His Messenger have made lawful for His servants.
It should be known that the original ruling for transactions is permissibility, except for what evidence has established as forbidden. This is unlike acts of worship, for which the original ruling is prohibition and forbiddance, except for what evidence has established as prescribed. The fact that the original ruling for transactions is permissibility, except for what evidence has established as forbidden, indicates the mercy of Allah the Exalted toward His servants and His wisdom. This is because people need various transactions, and things may arise that cannot be fully enumerated. Even if they were enumerated, it would lead to restriction. However, out of the mercy of Allah the Exalted, He made transactions lawful except for what evidence has established as prohibited. Musaqat and muzara'ah are among these.
Musaqat applies to trees, while muzara'ah applies to land. For example, a person has an orchard with trees such as palm trees, grapes, figs, oranges, and others. He agrees with another person that this person will water the trees, maintain them, and do what is necessary to improve them, in exchange for a known, shared portion of the fruit. He might say, for instance, "Take these palm trees, look after their maintenance, and you will have half the fruit, or a quarter, or whatever you both agree upon." It is not permissible to say, "Take these palm trees or this orchard, look after them, and you will have one hundred sa' of the fruit, or one hundred kilograms, or you will have the eastern side and I will have the western side, or you will have the northern side and I will have the southern side," or the like. This is based on the hadith of Rafi' ibn Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "People used to hire laborers during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for the irrigation channels, the banks of the canals, and some of the crops. Some would perish and some would survive, and some would survive and some would perish. There was no fixed rent for people except this. Therefore, he prohibited it." That is, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it. However, there is no harm in a known, guaranteed share. The known, guaranteed share is the shared portion. This is because if you give the worker a specific, non-shared amount, it leads to excessive uncertainty (gharar). The fruit may not yield more than the amount you assigned to the worker, in which case you are left with no benefit. Or the fruit may yield a large amount, and the worker may have thought that what he stipulated for himself was equal to, for example, one-tenth or half. If the production becomes large, it may be worth less than what he estimated, and there is uncertainty in this.
Similarly, if the musaqat is based on a specific location, such as saying "you have the eastern side and I have the western side," or the like, it is not valid. This is because the eastern side assigned to the worker may perish, causing him to lose out without benefit. Or the western side assigned to the owner of the land or the owner of the palm trees may perish, causing him harm as well. Therefore, musaqat is not valid except on a known, shared portion, such as half, a third, a quarter, or the like.
The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is permissible to lease the palm trees for a known annual fee to the owner of the palm trees, with the worker keeping all the fruit. For example, saying, "Take these palm trees for ten years, you have their fruit, and you give me one hundred thousand [currency] each year, or less, or more." The majority of scholars hold that this is not permissible due to the possibility of excessive uncertainty (gharar). The palm trees may yield a lot of fruit, or they may yield only a little, or they may not yield any at all if the fruit is affected by pests that spoil it. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) permitted this and said: "Just as it is permissible to lease land for a known fee with all the crops belonging to the farmer, so it is permissible to lease palm trees, and there is no difference." He cited as evidence a report from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he took over the orchard of Usayd ibn Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him) to settle a debt he owed. What Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said is, in my view, closer to the truth, as there is no effective difference between leasing land for crops and leasing palm trees for cultivation.
Based on this, musaqat has two forms. The first form is that the farmer is given the palm trees to look after in exchange for a known, shared portion of the fruit, such as half, a quarter, or the like.
The second form is leasing, where one says, "Take these palm trees for ten years, look after them, you have their fruit, and you give me ten thousand riyals, or one hundred thousand riyals, each year, according to what you both agree upon."
As for muzara'ah, it applies to crops that are not trees. It is when a man gives his land to a person to farm in exchange for a known, shared portion of the crops, such as a third, a quarter, or the like. The farmer farms the land, and what comes out of the crops is divided between them according to what they stipulated. However, it must be a known, shared portion. If, for example, he says, "You have one hundred sa' of the crops, and the rest is mine," that is not valid. This is because the crops may not amount to more than one hundred sa', in which case the worker loses out. Or there may be many sa' that were not in the owner's estimation, in which case the owner loses out. This is similar to gambling, and therefore it was prohibited. Similarly, if he says, "You have the eastern crops and I have the western crops," or "you have the northern and I have the southern," that is also not valid. This is because the side belonging to one of them may perish, and the other will be cheated.
Muzara'ah has two forms, like musaqat. One of them is that he is given the land in exchange for a known, shared portion of what comes out of it in crops, such as a third, a quarter, or the like.
The second form is that he is given the land as a lease, where one says, "Take this land and farm it for ten years, and each year you give me so much and so much in coins, not from what comes out of it." There is no harm in this and no blame. Although this is called a lease, it is a type of muzara'ah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Judgment. Musaqat and muzara'ah are two types of transactions that Allah the Exalted and His Messenger have made lawful for His servants.
It should be known that the original ruling for transactions is permissibility, except for what evidence has established as forbidden. This is unlike acts of worship, for which the original ruling is prohibition and forbiddance, except for what evidence has established as prescribed. The fact that the original ruling for transactions is permissibility, except for what evidence has established as forbidden, indicates the mercy of Allah the Exalted toward His servants and His wisdom. This is because people need various transactions, and things may arise that cannot be fully enumerated. Even if they were enumerated, it would lead to restriction. However, out of the mercy of Allah the Exalted, He made transactions lawful except for what evidence has established as prohibited. Musaqat and muzara'ah are among these.
Musaqat applies to trees, while muzara'ah applies to land. For example, a person has an orchard with trees such as palm trees, grapes, figs, oranges, and others. He agrees with another person that this person will water the trees, maintain them, and do what is necessary to improve them, in exchange for a known, shared portion of the fruit. He might say, for instance, "Take these palm trees, look after their maintenance, and you will have half the fruit, or a quarter, or whatever you both agree upon." It is not permissible to say, "Take these palm trees or this orchard, look after them, and you will have one hundred sa' of the fruit, or one hundred kilograms, or you will have the eastern side and I will have the western side, or you will have the northern side and I will have the southern side," or the like. This is based on the hadith of Rafi' ibn Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "People used to hire laborers during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) for the irrigation channels, the banks of the canals, and some of the crops. Some would perish and some would survive, and some would survive and some would perish. There was no fixed rent for people except this. Therefore, he prohibited it." That is, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited it. However, there is no harm in a known, guaranteed share. The known, guaranteed share is the shared portion. This is because if you give the worker a specific, non-shared amount, it leads to excessive uncertainty (gharar). The fruit may not yield more than the amount you assigned to the worker, in which case you are left with no benefit. Or the fruit may yield a large amount, and the worker may have thought that what he stipulated for himself was equal to, for example, one-tenth or half. If the production becomes large, it may be worth less than what he estimated, and there is uncertainty in this.
Similarly, if the musaqat is based on a specific location, such as saying "you have the eastern side and I have the western side," or the like, it is not valid. This is because the eastern side assigned to the worker may perish, causing him to lose out without benefit. Or the western side assigned to the owner of the land or the owner of the palm trees may perish, causing him harm as well. Therefore, musaqat is not valid except on a known, shared portion, such as half, a third, a quarter, or the like.
The scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) differed on whether it is permissible to lease the palm trees for a known annual fee to the owner of the palm trees, with the worker keeping all the fruit. For example, saying, "Take these palm trees for ten years, you have their fruit, and you give me one hundred thousand [currency] each year, or less, or more." The majority of scholars hold that this is not permissible due to the possibility of excessive uncertainty (gharar). The palm trees may yield a lot of fruit, or they may yield only a little, or they may not yield any at all if the fruit is affected by pests that spoil it. However, Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) permitted this and said: "Just as it is permissible to lease land for a known fee with all the crops belonging to the farmer, so it is permissible to lease palm trees, and there is no difference." He cited as evidence a report from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) that he took over the orchard of Usayd ibn Hudayr (may Allah be pleased with him) to settle a debt he owed. What Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) said is, in my view, closer to the truth, as there is no effective difference between leasing land for crops and leasing palm trees for cultivation.
Based on this, musaqat has two forms. The first form is that the farmer is given the palm trees to look after in exchange for a known, shared portion of the fruit, such as half, a quarter, or the like.
The second form is leasing, where one says, "Take these palm trees for ten years, look after them, you have their fruit, and you give me ten thousand riyals, or one hundred thousand riyals, each year, according to what you both agree upon."
As for muzara'ah, it applies to crops that are not trees. It is when a man gives his land to a person to farm in exchange for a known, shared portion of the crops, such as a third, a quarter, or the like. The farmer farms the land, and what comes out of the crops is divided between them according to what they stipulated. However, it must be a known, shared portion. If, for example, he says, "You have one hundred sa' of the crops, and the rest is mine," that is not valid. This is because the crops may not amount to more than one hundred sa', in which case the worker loses out. Or there may be many sa' that were not in the owner's estimation, in which case the owner loses out. This is similar to gambling, and therefore it was prohibited. Similarly, if he says, "You have the eastern crops and I have the western crops," or "you have the northern and I have the southern," that is also not valid. This is because the side belonging to one of them may perish, and the other will be cheated.
Muzara'ah has two forms, like musaqat. One of them is that he is given the land in exchange for a known, shared portion of what comes out of it in crops, such as a third, a quarter, or the like.
The second form is that he is given the land as a lease, where one says, "Take this land and farm it for ten years, and each year you give me so much and so much in coins, not from what comes out of it." There is no harm in this and no blame. Although this is called a lease, it is a type of muzara'ah. Yes.
The questioner : May Allah bless you.