Land held in hereditary tenancy

Question

Question: (1) Our custom regarding land held in hereditary tenancy is as follows: formerly, when a tenant cultivator had tilled a field for a fixed period, that land passed to him in hereditary tenancy, and at the same fixed rate it was bound in his name for ever. There are many lands like this here. Is this permissible in the Shari‘a or not? (2) And now, nowadays, a law has been made by which the cultivator becomes a legal (holder), i.e.

Answer

(1) Cultivating such land without the landlord’s consent is impermissible in the Shari‘a. (2) This too is impermissible. (3) The owner of this land and orchard is the woman’s husband’s father, and after him his heirs will be the owners; the woman will not become owner on the grounds of its being her husband’s estate (tarika). (a) It is better to give up such land and resign it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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