Explanation of Article 571
The article refers to the definition of the agricultural partnership contract and addresses two prominent applications:
The first form is the contract of "Muzara'a," in which the owner of the capital hands over cultivated or uncultivated land to someone who works on it for a common share of its yield, which is the agricultural product that comes from it. The obligation of the owner of the capital is to deliver the benefit of the land, whether he owns the land or only its benefit through a usufruct right, lease, endowment, or otherwise. The obligation of the worker is to work on the land by cultivating it if it is not cultivated and to work on it by caring, watering, and repairing until the crop appears, or by completing its cultivation if it is cultivated and the crop has not appeared, and to work on it until the crop appears.
The second form is the contract of "Musaqah," in which the owner of the capital is obliged to deliver land with existing trees, i.e., planted, to someone who will water and care for it until its fruit appears. They share in its yield, which is the fruit or what the tree produces, such as fibers, oil, wood, or otherwise. The obligation of the owner of the capital is to deliver the benefit of the trees, whether he owns them or only their benefit through a usufruct right, lease, endowment, or otherwise, and whether he owns the land in which the trees are planted or only its benefit, or he does not own the land or its benefit but only owns the trees or their benefit.
Both "Muzara'a" and "Musaqah" share that the partnership between the contracting parties is only in the yield and not in the original capital. The obligation of the owner of the capital in both is to deliver a non-consumable asset, which is the land in "Muzara'a" and the trees in "Musaqah." The obligation of the worker in both is to work. "Muzara'a" differs from "Musaqah" in that "Muzara'a" is for crops like wheat, barley, and alfalfa, while "Musaqah" is for trees, which produce yield from plants and regenerate while keeping their original form, like palm trees, grapes, and olives.
It is not required in "Musaqah" that the trees bear fruit; it is valid for anything that yields fruit, leaves, fibers, oil, or otherwise. The share of the contracting party in "Muzara'a" and "Musaqah" must be common.
Related To
Article 571
Agricultural partnership is a contract under which land or trees are delivered to a worker for sharecropping or the performance of irrigation duties for a common share of the output.