CULTIVATION OF LAND

CULTIVATION OF LAND

(Al-harth wa-l-muzāra'ah)

1. "Do they not consider that We drive the water to a land having no herbage, then We bring forth thereby seed produce of which their cattle and they themselves eat" (32:27). 2, "And He it is Who produces gardens (of vine), trellised and untrellised, and palms and seed-produce, of which the fruits are of various sorts, and olives and pomegranates, like and unlike" (6:142).
3. "Like seed produce that puts forth its sprout then strengthens it, so it becomes stout and stands firmly on its stem, delighting the sowers" (48:29). Harth is the tilling of land, and muzāra'ah (from zara'a, he sowed the seed) is the making of a contract with another for labour on land to sow and till it for a share of its produce. The Holy Qur'ān draws attention to the necessity of turning waste-land into gardens by making arrangements for watering it, and growing good crops (vv. 1-3). Hadīth speaks of it as an act of great merit (h. 1), but it gives a warning at the same time that a people who give themselves up entirely to agriculture neglecting other lines of their development. are not capable of great and glorious deeds (h. 2). Impetus is given to the cultivation of wasteland (h. 3). It is allowed to let to another person land for cultivation for a part of the produce (hh. 4, 5), or for money (h. 6). but it is at the same time recommended that a person who can afford it should give land rent-free to his poor brother (h. 7). A person having his land on a water channel is entitled to water his fields. but he must allow the water to pass on to others when his need is satisfied (h. 8). The digging of a well is an act of great merit (h. 9). A neighbour's right to land must be respected very scrupulously (h. 10).
1 Anas said,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said
"There is no Muslim
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who plants a tree or cultivates land, then there eat of it birds or a man or an animal but it is a charity for him."

(B. 41:1.)

2 It is reported about Abū Umāmah that he said, when he saw a plough and some other agricultural implements, I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, say:
"This does not enter the house of a people but it brings ingloriousness with it."1

(B. 41:2.)

3 'Ā'ishah reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Whoever cultivates land which is not the property of any one has a better title to it."

(B. 41:15.)

1. Bukhārī's heading of the chapter is "Warning against the consequences of engrossment with the implements of agriculture or going beyond the limit ordained." The hadīth, therefore, implies that a nation which gives itself up entirely to agriculture neglecting other lines of its development cannot rise to a position of glory.
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4 Abū Ja'far said,
There was not in Madīnah any house of the emigrants but they cultivated (land) on one-third and one-fourth (of the produce) .... And 'Umar employed people (for cultivation) on condition that if 'Umar supplied the seed from his pocket, he should have one-half (of the produce), and if they supplied the seed, they should have such and such a portion.2
(B. 41:8.)
5 Ibn 'Umar reported,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, granted (the lands of) Khaibar to the Jews on condition that they worked thereon and cultivated them and they should have half of the produce.

(B. 41:11)

6 Rāfi' reported,
They used to have land cultivated in the time of
2. This is technically called mukhābrah, from khabr meaning information see h. 7.
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the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, taking what grew on the water-courses or anything which the owner of the land reserved for himself. So the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, forbade this. I (the reporter) said to Rāfi', How is it if it is done on payment of dinārs and dirhams? Rāfi' said, There is no harm in taking dinārs and dirhams.

(B. 41:19.)

7 'Amr said,
I said to Tā'ūs, Thou shouldst give up Mukhābrah, for they say that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him. forbade it. He said ......, Ibn 'Abbās informed me that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, did not forbid this but he only said:
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"If one of you gives it as a gift to his brother, it is better for him than that he takes for it a fixed payment."3

(B. & M-Msh. 12:13)

8 Abū Hurairah reported,
The Messenger of Allāh, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
"Excess of water should not be withheld, arresting thereby the growth of herbage."4

(B. 42:2.)

9 The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said
"Whoever digs the well of Rūma, for him is paradise." So 'Uthmān had it dug.5

(B. 62:7.)

3. Evidently this was advice given to people who had vast tracts of land, which they could not manage to cultivate for themselves. It did not mean that land could not be let to a tenant.
4. Without water there would be no herbage; hence owners of land situated on watercourses were required to allow the flow of excess water to other people's land or even to barren tracts which would thus become grass fields for cattle. Matters relating to irrigation are technically known as musāqāt which literally means giving to drink.
5. The digging of a well is regarded as an act of the greatest merit. When the Holy Prophet came to Madīnah, the only well of sweet water there was the property of a Jew, and Muslims had to purchase drinking water from him. 'Uthmān thereupon bought the Rūma well, and made it waqf.
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10 Ibn 'Umar said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allāh be on him, said:
Whoever takes any part of land without having a right to it, he shall be, as a punishment for it, sunk down into earth on the day of resurrection to the depth of seven earths."6

(B. 46:13.)

6. Muslims were thus required to be very scrupulous in the matter of other people's rights to land.