Issue No.1881- If the lessor sells the property to the lessee before the expiry of the period of lease, the lease contract is not cancelled, and the lessee should give the rent of the property to the lessor. The same rule will apply if the lessor sells the leased property to someone else.
Issue No.1882- If before the commencement of the period of lease, the leased property becomes so impaired that it is not fit for use, or it cannot be utilised in the manner agreed upon, the lease contract becomes void, and the lessee can take back the money paid by him to the owner of the property. Similarly, in case the leased property is impaired after sometime during which it has been utilisable, the remaining period of the lease becomes void.
Issue No.1883- If a person leases out a house which has, for example, two rooms, and one of those rooms is ruined and he gets it repaired immediately, and the benefit which can be derived from it is not at all affected, the lease does not become void, and neither can the lessee cancel the lease. However, if the repair takes so much time that the benefit to be derived from it by the lessee is partially affected, then the lease in respect to that room becomes void, and the lessee is also entitled to cancel the whole lease.
Issue No.1884- If the lessor or the lessee dies, the lease contract does not become void, and that right remains for their heirs till the end of the lease contract. However, if they have laid a condition that the lessee himself uses that property not anyone else, then the owner of the property is entitled to cancel the contract for the remaining period.
Issue No.1885- If an employer appoints a builder to recruit labourers for him, and if the contractor gets from the employer more than what he pays to the labourers, the amount in excess is haram. However, if the contractor accepts to finish the building with a specific amount of money, which is more than what he spends, there is no harm in taking the amount in excess. Nevertheless, as an obligatory precaution, he himself should undertake some work, whether constructing, supervising or ordering materials.
Issue No.1887- Sharecropping means that the landowner agrees to hand over his land to a farmer so that he would cultivate it, in return for a specific share of the crop produced on the land. The Sharecropping contract can be concluded verbally – for example, the landowner says, “I hand over to you this land in return for one-third of its crop for a period of two years”, and the farmer says, “I accept”, and the contract is in order. It would also be in order, if the landowner [without the formula being pronounced] hands over the land to the farmer and he receives it. (Of course, the necessary talks about the duration of the contract and the landowner's proportion, etc., should have taken place earlier).
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.
Issue No.1890- If the period of Sharecropping (tenancy) comes ends, and the crop has not yet become available, in case this is due to the failure of the farmer, the landowner can make the farmer remove the crop from there. However, if it is due to the year being delayed (as is common), the landowner should wait, and if it is neither of them, and the farmer sustains a loss owing to its being removed, but the landowner does not sustain a loss, the latter should wait. However, if he (the landowner) sustains a loss, he has the right to make the farmer remove the crop.
Issue No.1891- If farming becomes impossible on the land on account of some occurrence, for example, if subterranean canals are destroyed and water supply is cut off from the land, in case a part of the crop has been obtained, though it might be fodder which animals eat, it belongs to both of them according to the contract, and Sharecropping is void in respect to the rest.
Issue No.1892- If the farmer does not cultivate the land while the land remains in his possession, he should pay the rent for that period to the owner at the usual rate, and if a defect has appeared in the land, he is also responsible for it.
Issue No.1894- If the owner of the land or the farmer dies after concluding the contract of Sharecropping, the contract will not be terminated and their heirs take their place. However, if the farmer dies and if they had agreed that the farmer himself would do the farming, the contract of Sharecropping will become cancelled, and in case the crop has appeared, his share should be given to his heirs, but the heirs cannot compel the landowner to allow the crop to stand on his land unless they would suffer loss as a consequence of removing it.
Issue No.1895- If it transpires, after cultivation and before the harvest, that the contract of Sharecropping had been void and if the seeds belonged to the landowner, the produce would belong to him, and he should pay the wages of the farmer at the usual rate. In case however, the seeds belonged to the farmer, the produce would belong to him, and he should pay the landowner the rent of the land as usual. If the landowner does not agree that the crop remain on his land until the end of the period, the farmer should collect the crop provided that this would not cause harm and loss to him, and that the remaining on the land and paying the rent should not cause harm and loss to the landowner.
