One’s Renting a House or Land and His Renting to another Tenant for Higher Price

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who contracted land from farmers, then rented it for more to others and undertook the share of al- Sultan. He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful because land is not like wages or a house. The increase of wages and house rent is unlawful.”’

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the case of a man who leased from al-Sultan al-Kharaj (tax) land for a known amount of dirham or foodstuff of known amount, then rented to someone with the condition to cultivate it and to divide the produce in half and half or more or less and still something extra remained for him from the land; if it was valid for him. He (the Imam) said, ‘Yes it is valid, provided, he digs a canal or a certain work to help them, then it is for him.’ I then asked him (the Imam) about the case of a man who leased a piece of land of Kharaj (tax) land for a certain amount of dirham or foodstuff, then rented it in pieces or by Jirib (a certain unit of measurement) for a known amount, then a certain amount extra remained for him after payment to al-Sultan but he did not spend anything, or that he leased that land in pieces with the condition to give them seed and expenses, then extra remained for him over the rent; if the soil was for him or not. He (the Imam) said, ‘If you rent a land and spend on it or do mending work in it, then the matters you have mentioned are not unlawful.’”

“About the case of a man who leases a piece of land, then rents it to someone for more than what he has leased for, he (the Imam) (a.s.), said, ‘It is not unlawful because it is not like a shop or wages; increase of wages and rent of shop is not lawful.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If a man rents a house for ten dirham and lives in it, but uses only two-thirds and rents the other one-third for ten dirhams, it is not unlawful but he must not rent out for more than what has rented (which is ten dirham) unless he introduces something in it.’”

“Ibrahim ibn al-Muthanna’ once asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), this, when I was listening, ‘A man leases land, then rents to someone else for more than what he pays.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful because land is not like a house or a worker on hire. Extra in the rent of a house is unlawful and extra in hiring is unlawful.’”

“This is concerning my question before abu ‘ Abd Allah (a.s.), about leasing saying, ‘There is a piece of land and it leased for one-third or one-fourth, then to someone else for one-half.’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not unlawful.’ I then asked, ‘What happens if I lease for one thousand dirhams and then lease it to someone else for two thousand dirhams?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is not lawful.’ I then asked, ‘How is it that it is lawful in the first case and unlawful in the second case?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘It is because in this case it is guaranteed and in that case it is not guaranteed.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘If you lease a piece of land in exchange for gold or silver, then do not lease it to someone else for more than what you have leased; but if you lease it in exchange for one-half or one-third of the produce you can lease it to someone else for more, because gold and silver are guaranteed.’”

“About the case of a man who leases a house then rents to someone else for more than what he has rented for, abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘It is not valid unless he introduces something in it.’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said, ‘I dislike renting a grinding stone, then renting it out to someone else for more than what I has rented for, unless some improvement is made or loss has taken place.’”

“Upon asking him (the Imam) (a.s.), about the case of a man who buys a pasture for fifty dirham or less or more and he wants to allow entering the pasture whoever wants to enter so that he charges them for it. He (the Imam) said, ‘He can allow whomever he wants with a payment of part of what he has paid. If he enters the pasture with a payment of forty-nine and his sheep (graze) for one dirham, it is not unlawful. He cannot receive payment of fifty dirham and his sheep graze along with them or for more than fifty but his sheep do not graze with them, unless he has done a certain work in the pasture, like digging a well, or a canal or has experienced fatigue in it with the consent of the owners of the pasture, in which case it is not unlawful to sell it for more than for what he has bought, because he has done certain work in it and with this it becomes valid for him.’”