Ruling on leasing land

Here is a message sent by one of the brothers from Makkah al-Mukarramah—Al-Zahir. He says, "Fadl Muhammad Ahmad al-Sudani, our brother, asks and says: I have agricultural land in Sudan, and I was unable to cultivate it. So I considered leasing it to someone who can cultivate it. When I started doing so, I was informed by one of the jurists there that leasing land is not permissible; it is permissible to give it in exchange for a share of the harvest, but not to lease it. Is this correct?"
Answer: This is not correct. It is permissible to lease land for a known amount, such as known dirhams or known sa' (a dry measure of about 3 kg), as Rafi' ibn Khadij reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: Therefore, leasing land for a known amount of dirhams or dinars, or a known amount of sa' of the same type as what comes out of it or otherwise, is permissible. This is the position of the scholars and the truth, even if some people have differed on this, but their difference has no basis. The correct view is that it is permissible to lease it for a shared portion of what comes out of it, such as a quarter, a third, or the like. It is also permissible to lease it for a guaranteed known amount, such as one hundred dirhams, one thousand dirhams, one thousand sa', or one thousand kilograms of wheat, rice, or barley. All of this is permissible.
As for what is prohibited, it is to lease it for a specific plot of it, saying, "What grows here is yours, and what grows here is mine." This leads to gharar (excessive uncertainty in a contract), as this plot may grow and that one may not, or this one may be better than that one. So if he leases the land on the condition that he gets what grows in the northern, western, or southern section, or the like, this is not correct. Or if he says, "What grows on the canals—for example, the streams—is mine, and the rest is for the other," this is also not permissible. This was explicitly stated in the narration of Rafi' ibn Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). There is ambiguity in this. It is only permissible to lease it for a known, guaranteed amount of sa' or dirhams or dinars or the like, or for a known shared portion such as a quarter, a third, a half, or the like. This is what is permissible. Yes.