The Conditions of Muzari‘ah
Issue No.1888- There are certain conditions in Sharecropping:1) Both the landowner and the farmer should be mature and sane, and should conclude the contract of Sharecropping out of intention and free will. They should not have been banned from discretion over their properties by the Islamic judge, and should not be mentally incompetent either.2) All the crop of the land should not be allocated to one of them.3) The owner and the farmer should both openly share the entire produce. For example, the landowner will receive ½ or 1/3 of the entire crop. Hence, if they lay down a condition that a kind of the crop is for one of them and another kind of the crop for the other one, or that the crop of a certain part of the land should belong to one of them and the crop of another part of the land for the other one, it is not in order. Similarly, if the landowner says to the farmer, “Cultivate the land and give me as much as you wish”, it will be void.4) The period for which the land is to remain in possession of the farmer should be specified, and it is necessary that the period should be long enough to make a harvest possible from the land.5) The land should be arable, and if it is barren but can be made fit for farming by some work being done on it, the contract will be in order.6) The type of the crop should be specified. However, if it does not make any difference to them and to the public, or when it is clear as to what sort of crop the land is suitable for, it is not necessary that they specify it.7) The land should be specified. Hence, if a person has got several pieces of land, and says that he gives one of them for Sharecropping, and if the lands are of different qualities, the Sharecropping will not be in order. However, if the lands are of the same quality, and he says, for example, that he hands over to him (the farmer) five acres of this land, there is no problem in it. It is also possible to describe the land to the farmer without him having seen it.8) The expenses of cultivation, seeds, etc., which each of them incur should be specified. However, if the expenses are known among the local people, it will be sufficient.
