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Chapter
23:
Cultivation of Land (Hadith -- The
Traditions):
(Note:
The superscript-numbers [e.g., intention2]
that
appear in the text [in
pink]
refer to the numbers of the explanatory footnotes that
appear at the end of each Hadith
[Tradition].)
1
Anas said,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, said:
"There is no Muslim 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 Abu Umamah that he said, when he saw a
plough and some other agricultural implements, I heard the
Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, say:
"This does not enter the
house of a people but it brings ingloriousness with it."
1
(B. 41 : 2.)
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1
Bukhari's heading of the chapter is "Warning
against the consequences of engrossment with the
implements of agriculture or going beyond the limit
ordained." The hadith, 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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3
`A'ishah reported,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him, said:
"Whoever cultivates land
which is not the property of any one has a better title
to it." (B. 41 : 15.)
4
Abu Ja`far said,
There was not in Madinah 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.)
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2
This is technically called mukhabrah, from
khabr, meaning information. See h.
7.
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5
Ibn `Umar reported,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah 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
Rafi` reported,
They used to have land cultivated in the time of the
Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah 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 Allah be on him, forbade this. I (the reporter)
said to Rafi`, How is it if it is done on payment of dinars
and dirhams? Rafi` said, There is no harm in taking dinars
and dirhams. (B. 41 :
19.)
7
`Amr said,
I said to Ta'us, Thou shouldst give up Mukhabrah, for they
said that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him, forbade it. He said . . . . . , Ibn `Abbas informed me
that the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him,
did not forbid this but he only said:
"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.)
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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.
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8
Abu Hurairah reported,
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be on
him,
"Excess of water should not
be withheld, arresting thereby the growth of
herbage."4
(B. 42 : 2.)
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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
musaqat which literally means giving to
drink.
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9
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be on him,
said:
"Whoever digs the well of
Ruma, for him is paradise." So `Uthman had it
dug.5
(B. 62 : 7.)
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5
The digging of a well is regarded as an act of the
greatest merit. When the Holy Prophet came to
Madinah, the only well of sweet water there was the
property of a Jew, and Muslims had to purchase
drinking water from him. `Uthman thereupon bought
the Ruma well, and made it waqf.
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10
Ibn `Umar said,
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah 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.)
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6
Muslims were thus required to be very scrupulous in
the matter of other people's rights to
land.
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Top
Hadith
Section
> A
Manual of Hadith
> Chapter 23: Cultivation of Land (Hadith -- The
Traditions)
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