Chapter 126(a) - Matters Permissible or Otherwise in Renting Land

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not rent land in exchange for wheat, barley, dates, canals or small amount of water, but you can do so in exchange for gold or silver; gold and silver are guaranteed and those…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not rent land in exchange for dates, wheat, barley, al-Arbi‘a’ or al-Nitaf.’ I then asked, ‘What is al-Arbi‘a?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is a small amount of water and al-Nitaf…

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘You must not rent land in exchange for wheat where you plant wheat.’”

“About the case of a man who accepts dinar or dirham for (the rent of) land, abu Ja‘far (a.s.), has said, ‘It is not unlawful.’”

“About the case of a man who has a piece of land for which he pays a certain amount of tax that may increase or decrease; and he gives it to another man to pay its taxes and two hundred dirham every year. He (the Imam)…

“I once asked abu Ja‘far (a.s.), about renting land in exchange for foodstuff. He (the Imam) said, ‘If it is of the produce of the same land, there is nothing good in it.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who rented a piece of land from another man saying, ‘I rent this piece of land to cultivate, and if I will not cultivate I will still…

“I once asked al-Rida’ (a.s.), about the case of a man who bought a certain piece of land from another man in exchange for one hundred Kur (a certain unit of measurement) to be paid from the land. He (the Imam) said, ‘It…

“I once asked abu al-Hassan (a.s.), about the case of a man for whom the farmers cultivate saffron and guarantee to give him a certain amount by the weight of dirham for every Jirib (a certain unit of measurement) that…

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man for whom saffron was cultivated and the farmers guaranteed to give him one Mann (a certain unit of weight) out of every forty Mann…