It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rafi' bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade leasing land in exchange for cash dirhams or for a third or a quarter share of the produce.

Abu Najashi, the slave of Sayyiduna Rafi’, says: I asked Sayyiduna Rafi’ (may Allah be pleased with him) about giving land on rent and said: I have land, can I give it on rent? He said: Do not give it for anything in exchange, because I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: Whoever owns land should cultivate it himself, and if he does not cultivate it himself, then he should give it to his brother to cultivate, and if he does not do even that, then he should just leave it as it is. I said: Please tell me, if I leave my land uncultivated, but if my brother cultivates it and sends me some fodder (is there any harm in that)? He said: Do not take anything from him, not even fodder. I said: I do not set any condition with him, he just sends me something as a gift? He said: Do not take anything from him.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: In the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we used to give land on sharecropping, and sometimes after threshing the grain, we would get those grains that remained in the ears and could not be separated by threshing. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever has land, let him cultivate it himself or give it to his brother for cultivation, otherwise he should leave it as it is.

The son of Rafi’ narrates that our master Rafi’ bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us after being with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden us from an act which was beneficial for us, but in any case, obedience to Allah Almighty and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) is the most profitable for us. The detail is that if the land is someone’s property or someone’s gift, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden working on it on the basis of sharecropping.

Usayd bin Zuhayr says: We used to give surplus land on sharecropping for a third, a fourth, or half of the produce, and we used to set conditions regarding three water channels, the grains left in the ears after threshing, and the land irrigated by small streams, while at that time there was great hardship in subsistence. Then those people used to farm with iron tools, etc., and we also used to get profit. But it happened that Sayyiduna Rafi‘ bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us and said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden you from a practice that was beneficial for you; nevertheless, obedience to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is more beneficial than everything else. The Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden you from sharecropping and said: Whoever has surplus land, let him give it to his brother as a loan without compensation, or let him leave it fallow. Also, he (peace and blessings be upon him) has forbidden you from muzābanah, and muzābanah is that a man has a lot of produce on his date palms, and another man comes and says: I will buy these dates from you in exchange for such-and-such a measure of dates.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rafi’ bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade giving land on sharecropping, that is, on the condition of receiving a third or a fourth of the produce.

Narrated by Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever owns land should cultivate it himself; if he is unable to cultivate it and becomes incapable, then he should give it as a gift to his Muslim brother and should not rent it out.

(Second chain) Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Some people had extra land, and they would give it on rent for a third, a quarter, or half of the produce. But the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever has land should cultivate it himself or give it as a gift to his brother; if he does not wish to do so, then he should keep his land with himself.

(Third chain) It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever has extra land or water, he should cultivate it himself or give it to his brother, and he should not sell it. Salim bin Hayyan says: I asked Saeed whether "not to sell" means not to give it on rent? He said: Yes.

It is narrated from Imam Nafi that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: I know that in the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), lands were leased out for a certain amount of crops and fodder that grew near small canals, but I do not know how much the amount of fodder was. And Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) used to lease out his land during the times of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Sayyiduna Umar, and Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them) and at the beginning of the era of Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him). When the later period of Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) was ongoing, he received the information that Sayyiduna Rafi (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade leasing land in this manner. So he went to him, and I, Nafi, was also with him, and he asked him about this hadith. He said: Yes, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade leasing fields. After that, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) abandoned this practice and stopped leasing out land. Then, when he was asked about this, he would say: Sayyiduna Rafi bin Khadij (may Allah be pleased with him) believes that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade leasing fields.