Wage for irrigation paid from the produce

Question

Question: A man owns a machine (pump); this owner of the machine waters the fields on other people’s land and takes a quarter share as compensation for it. Is this permissible?

Answer

To make an agreement for watering a field by machine in such a way that a certain share of the produce will be taken in return for it is not proper. This is an ijara fasida (invalid hire): the wage in it is unknown, since it is not known how much grain will be produced: [ar]تفسد الإجارة بالشروط المخالفة لمقتضى العقد، فكل ما أفسد البيع يفسدها، كجهالة مأجور أو أجرة[/ar] “Ijara…

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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