Chapter on Sharecropping and Leasing

It is narrated from Ya'qub bin Shu'ayb, from Abu Abdillah عليه السلام, who said: I asked Imam عليه السلام about a man who gives his land, which has water, palm trees, and fruits, to another man and says, "Irrigate this with water, cultivate it, and you will have half of what Allah سبحانه وتعالى, the Mighty and Glorious, produces from it." Imam عليه السلام said: "There is no harm in it." I also asked him about a man who gives another man a piece of ruined land and says, "Rebuild it, and it is yours for three years, or four, or five years, or for whatever period you decide." Imam عليه السلام said: "There is no harm in that." I further asked Imam عليه السلام about a man who owns a piece of land from the lands subject to tax (kharaj) with a fixed tax, which sometimes increases and sometimes decreases. He leases it to another man under the condition that the lessee will cover its tax and pay him two hundred dirhams annually. Imam عليه السلام said: "There is no harm in that."