35b/45: Chapter
Sunan an-Nasai 3900 — Land Leasing for Gold or Silver
Mentioning The Differing Hadiths Regarding The Prohibition Of Leasing Out Land In Return For One Third, Or One Quarter Of The Harvest And The Different Wordings Reported By The Narrators
Land Leasing in Islam: Paying Rent with Gold or Silver
Sunan an-Nasai : 3900
Sunan an-NasaiHadith Number 3900
أَخْبَرَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ عَلِيٍّ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنْ رَبِيعَةَ، عَنْ حَنْظَلَةَ بْنِ قَيْسٍ، قَالَ سَأَلْتُ رَافِعَ بْنَ خَدِيجٍ عَنْ كِرَاءِ الأَرْضِ، فَقَالَ نَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَنْ كِرَاءِ الأَرْضِ. قُلْتُ بِالذَّهَبِ وَالْوَرِقِ قَالَ لاَ إِنَّمَا نَهَى عَنْهَا بِمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا فَأَمَّا الذَّهَبُ وَالْفِضَّةُ فَلاَ بَأْسَ. رَوَاهُ سُفْيَانُ الثَّوْرِيُّ رضى الله عنه عَنْ رَبِيعَةَ وَلَمْ يَرْفَعْهُ.
Hanzalah bin Qais Narrated from:
I asked Rafi' bin Khadij about leasing land. He said: 'The Messenger of Allah forbade leasing land.' I said: 'For gold or silver?' He said: 'No, rather he forbade leasing it in return for what the land produces. As for gold and silver, there is nothing wrong with that.'
Reference : Sunan an-Nasa'i 3900In-book reference : Book 35b, Hadith 44English translation : Vol. 4, Book 35, Hadith 3931
Summary of Sunan an-Nasai Hadith 3900
This hadith about leasing land makes an important distinction. Rafi' bin Khadij explained that the Messenger of Allah forbade a lease in which the rent was taken from what the land itself produced. The report does not present the ban as covering every kind of land rent. When Hanzalah asked specifically about gold or silver, Rafi' answered that there was nothing wrong with it. The core point is the form of payment named in the agreement. Rent linked to the crop coming from the same land is treated differently here from a known payment in gold or silver. Anyone reading this land leasing hadith should keep that distinction clear and should not turn the wording into a wider claim than the narration itself makes.
What we learn from this hadith
- The payment method can change how a land lease is viewed.
- Rent taken from the land’s own produce is the form forbidden in this report.
- A payment fixed in gold or silver is stated to be unobjectionable here.
- Questions should identify the exact contract terms instead of speaking only in general terms.
