I know that during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, land used to be leased in exchange for what grew along the water channels and a portion of the straw, though I do not know exactly how much.Ibn Umar used to lease out his land during the time of Abu Bakr, the time of Umar, the time of Uthman, and the early part of Muawiya's rule. Then, toward the end of Muawiya's reign, word reached him that Rafi was reporting a prohibition from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ regarding this. So he went to him, and I was with him, and asked him about it.Rafi said, "Yes, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade leasing farmland."So Ibn Umar gave it up and stopped leasing his land. Whenever he was asked about it, he would say, "Ibn Khadij claims that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade leasing farmland."
حدثنا إسماعيل أخبرنا أيوب عن نافع
قد علمت أن الأرض كانت تكرى على عهد رسول الله ﷺ بما على الأربعاء وشيء من التبن لا أدري كم هو وإن ابن عمر كان يكري أرضه في عهد أبي بكر وعهد عمر وعهد عثمان وصدر إمارة معاوية حتى إذا كان في آخرها بلغه أن رافعا يحدث في ذلك بنهي رسول الله ﷺ فأتاه وأنا معه فسأله فقال نعم نهى رسول الله ﷺ عن كراء المزارع فتركها ابن عمر فكان لا يكريها فكان إذا سئل يقول زعم ابن خديج أن رسول الله ﷺ نهى عن كراء المزارع
Its chain of transmission is sahih. Bukhari 5:18-19 narrated it through Hammad, and Muslim 1:453 through Yazid bin Zuray, both of them from Ayub from Nafi, with similar wording. Abu Dawud 268 narrated it with the same meaning and similar wording through Zuhri from Salim from Ibn Umar. Something of the meaning of this hadith has already appeared in the Musnad of Ibn Abbas at 2087 and 2598, and will come again in the Musnad of Rafi bin Khadij several times, including at 15868, 15873, and 15880.Al-arbiaa is the plural of rabi with a fatha on the ra, meaning a small stream. Ibn Athir said it means they used to rent land for a fixed known amount, and then would additionally stipulate for themselves whatever grew along the rivers and streams. The issue of renting land is a delicate matter with serious economic and social consequences across the lands of the earth, because of the greed of the wealthy landowners and the covetousness that has overtaken them, to the point that they have drained the blood of the tenant farmers and lessees, or come close to it, and have even placed them in a rank lower than that of animals. It is feared that the consequences of this may become among the gravest of dangers.As for Ibn Hazm, he took the apparent meaning of this hadith and similar ones, and stated firmly that it is not permissible to rent land for anything at all, neither for dinars nor dirhams, nor for goods, nor for a specified amount of food, nor for anything whatsoever. He did not consider any of that permissible, except that a man give his land to someone to cultivate with his own seed, labor, neighbors, helpers, and equipment, in exchange for a share, where the owner of the land receives a specified portion of what Allah brings forth from it, whether a half, a third, a quarter, or something similar, and the rest belongs to the cultivator, whether little or much. If nothing at all is produced, then the cultivator owes nothing and is owed nothing. These arrangements are permissible, and whoever refuses them should simply keep his land to himself. See al-Muhalla, issue 1330, volume 1, pages 211-222.It is hoped that Allah will grant success to a scholar of the sunnah who will gather everything reported on this matter, examine the chains of transmission and their defects, determine which of them is sahih in terms of chain and which is soundest in wording and meaning, so that it may serve as a decisive resolution of this weighty issue, if Allah wills.