Theory of "Sharecropping" from an Islamic Economic Perspective: A Study of al-Muzāraʻa & al-Musāqāt

Abstract

Nowadays, societies all over the world depend on a healthy economy to ensure their prosperity. In order to fulfil the needs of life with limited resources, every person in the society should be involved in a variety of economic activities in such industries as manufacturing, tourism, agriculture, and banking. In an Islamic society, all economic activities have to comply with the ethical values and Islamic law derived from the unequivocal teachings of al-Qurʼān and Ḥadīth. Most of the discussions among scholars on the subject of Islamic economics at present are focused on Islamic banking and finance. Even though the agricultural sector is one of the most important economic activities in human life, relatively few Islamic economists have made studies on it. Originally, land used for agriculture was the main constituent in this area of study and it can be reviewed from the contracts which have been used between landlords and tenants. Basically, there are three main forms of contract in agriculture; fixed wage, fixed rent and sharecropping. Alternatively, in Islamic jurisprudence, there are also terms which are related to the concept of sharecropping, namely al-muzāraʻa and al-musāqāt. Basically, these principles constitute a contract between the landlord and the tenant stipulating that the final output will be shared among both parties as a reward for the managerial labour supplied by the tenant and the land capital supplied by the landlord. Nevertheless, these concepts are only a part of the discussion in the broader context of sharecropping in economic terms. Furthermore, some arguments have arisen among leading Islamic jurists as to their validity. Hence, these principles can be considered as important concepts in Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and as having been reviewed by many Islamic jurists in classical literature. The theory of al-muzāraʻa has prompted more debates among Islamic legal schools than the principle of al-musāqāt. This is illustrated by Imām Abū Ḥanīfa’s (699–767) acknowledgment of the principle of al-ijāra (leasing) in land contracts but his invalidation of the principles of al-muzāraʻa and al-musāqāt. Imām Mālik (712–796) and Imām Shāfiʻī (767 –820) only acknowledged the principle of al-muzāraʻa if it was a derivative from a contract of al-musāqāt. Abū Yūsuf (731–798) and al-Shaybānī (750–805), disciples of Imām Abū Hanīfa, have proposed that both of these contracts are permitted by Sharīʻa and admissible as a form