It is stated in Ash-Shakhsiyyah al-Islamiyyah (The Islamic Personality), Volume II, page 318:
"...It is not permissible to sell an animal for the residence of a house for a year, for example. However, it is valid to lease an orchard for the residence of a house. This is because a sale (bay’) is an exchange of wealth (mal), so the exchange of wealth for a benefit (manfa’ah) is not considered a sale. In contrast, leasing (ijarah) is a contract over a benefit for a compensation (‘iwad), and this compensation does not necessarily have to be wealth; it can be a benefit..."
And it is stated in An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi (The Economic System), page 270:
"...When Islam established the rules of sale and leasing, it did not designate a specific thing for the exchange of commodities, or the exchange of efforts and benefits, as a mandatory basis for exchange. Rather, it left it open for humans to conduct an exchange with anything, as long as mutual consent exists in this exchange. Thus, it is permissible to marry a woman by teaching her the Quran, it is permissible to buy a commodity by working for its owner for a day, and it is permissible to work for someone for a day for a specific amount of dates..."
I have two questions here:
First:
What is mentioned in Ash-Shakhsiyyah, Volume II, does not permit the sale of an animal for the residence of a house, on the basis that a sale is an exchange of wealth for wealth, while this case is an exchange of wealth for the benefit of a house. It only permits the leasing of the benefit, such as leasing an orchard for the residence of a house. However, in An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi, it permits such a sale, saying: "It is permissible to buy a commodity by working for its owner for a day," meaning selling a commodity for the benefit of effort; thus, the buyer buys the commodity with the benefit of his work for the owner. As it appears, there is a contradiction between Ash-Shakhsiyyah and An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi. Which one is correct? Is it permissible to sell wealth for a benefit or not?
Second:
If it is not permissible, then how is Kharaj land sold, knowing that it is a sale of its benefit, since its neck (raqabah) is owned by the Muslims and its owner only owns its benefit? Is the exchange of the benefit of Kharaj land for wealth called a sale, and do the rules of sale apply to it?
Answer to the First Question:
There is what is called "Exchange" (Mubadalah), there is what is called "Sale" (Bay’), and there is what is called "Leasing/Hiring" (Ijarah).
Islam left the concept of "Exchange" general between commodities, efforts, and benefits, as long as these things are not prohibited. Thus, it is permissible to exchange a car or two for a house, and it is permissible to exchange a car for the residence of a house for specific months.
It is also permissible to exchange your daily or monthly work for a cash amount, and it is permissible to exchange your daily, monthly, or yearly work for a house or a car...
This means it is permissible to exchange effort for wealth, a commodity, or a benefit, as long as these things—as we said—are not prohibited commodities, prohibited benefits, or effort in prohibited work, and as long as mutual consent exists.
Sale (Bay’) is a type of exchange; it is the exchange of wealth for wealth. Therefore, whatever exchange occurs between wealth and wealth—such as between currency and currency or currency and a commodity—is a sale, and the rules of sale apply to it.
Leasing/Hiring (Ijarah) is another type of exchange. It is a contract over a benefit for a compensation. The compensation may be wealth, or it may be a benefit. It is permissible to work for a day or a month for a cash amount, or for a commodity such as wheat or dates... Similarly, it is permissible to work for a day or a month for the residence of a house for a month, for example, and so on.
Whatever exchange occurs between benefits and commodities or wealth is ijarah, and the rules of ijarah apply to it.
Once we know this, it becomes easy to understand what was mentioned in An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi and in Ash-Shakhsiyyah, Volume II, as follows:
a. What is mentioned in An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi is in the chapter on Currency. It mentioned "exchange" in general and its permissibility between commodities, efforts, and benefits... then it concluded that the monetary unit of exchange in Islam is gold and silver. The discussion in the chapter on Currency was about "exchange," which is correct; that is, exchange occurs in wealth, commodities, and efforts.
b. What is mentioned in Ash-Shakhsiyyah, Volume II, is in the chapter on Leasing (Ijarah) to differentiate it from Sale. It speaks about one type of general exchange where the two parties are "wealth" and "wealth," which is called a sale and has its own rules; and about another type of general exchange where the two parties are "benefits or efforts" and "wealth," or "benefits and efforts" and "benefits and efforts," which is called leasing (ijarah). The discussion was about types of exchange, some of which are called sale and some of which are called leasing, all of which was within the chapter on Ijarah.
c. Accordingly, what is mentioned in An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi and what is mentioned in Ash-Shakhsiyyah are both correct within their respective contexts.
d. However, the confusion lies in the example given in An-Nizam al-Iqtisadi during the discussion of exchange using the term "buy" (yashtari) in the phrase ("...and it is permissible to buy a commodity by working for its owner for a day..."). What is meant by it is ("to exchange a commodity for working for its owner for a day") because the discussion is about exchange. If it had been phrased this way, the confusion would have been removed, because this type of exchange, according to our adoption, falls under the chapter of Ijarah, and the rules of ijarah apply to it, not the rules of sale. The wage of this man who works for a day is that commodity, and the rules of sale do not apply to this case.
Although linguistically "sale" (bay’) is applied to exchange, as stated in Ash-Shakhsiyyah, Volume II, page 284, at the beginning of the discussion on Sale: ("Linguistically, sale is absolute exchange, and it is the opposite of buying..."), Shari’ah-wise it is a specific type of exchange, which is the exchange of wealth for wealth, as stated in Ash-Shakhsiyyah following the previous sentence: ("As for sale legally (shar’an), it is the exchange of wealth for wealth in the form of transferring ownership and acquiring ownership on the basis of mutual consent...").
Therefore, to remove the confusion, we will correct this sentence as I mentioned earlier. Instead of ("it is permissible to buy a commodity by working for its owner for a day"), we will put: ("it is permissible to exchange a commodity for working for its owner for a day").
This is because the correct view for us is that sale legally is ("the exchange of wealth for wealth") as stated in the definition of sale in Ash-Shakhsiyyah, Volume II, page 284, which we mentioned earlier.
For your information, there are some jurists who include the exchange of benefits, efforts, and commodities in "sale" under certain conditions and do not limit it to the exchange of wealth for wealth, but the weightier view (rajih) for us is what we have mentioned.
Answer to the Second Question:
The definition of leasing (ijarah) is a contract over a benefit for a compensation. The benefit intended here is the temporary benefit, meaning the fulfillment of the benefit under certain conditions and manners that make the benefit timed to a certain limit. For example, leasing a house for residence for a year means that the tenant fulfills a temporary benefit during the specified period.
As for the benefit of Kharaj land, although its neck (raqabah) is owned by the Muslims, this benefit is owned by its owner permanently. Therefore, sale is valid for it, and the rules of sale apply. The evidence for this is the consensus (ijma’) of the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) on the rule derived from the action of Umar regarding Kharaj land.
It is stated in Ash-Shakhsiyyah, Volume II, page 244, line 9, the following: ("...However, what is inherited in Kharaj land is only its permanent benefit, and its neck is not inherited because it is the property of all Muslims. As for its benefit, Umar ibn al-Khattab confirmed its owners in the ownership of its permanent benefit until the end of time... and benefit is owned and inherited, and the owner of the benefit has the right to dispose of it in all manners of disposal such as sale, mortgage, gift, bequest, and other disposals"). It is also stated in the same book, page 245, line 15 and beyond: ("And whoever owns the benefit of the land has the right to sell this benefit and receive its price because benefits are sold and their prices are deserved"), all of which refers to the permanent benefit when discussing the benefit of Kharaj land.
Summary:
- Exchange is permissible in wealth, commodities, efforts, and benefits as long as they are permissible and mutual consent exists.
- Exchange is more comprehensive than Sale and Leasing. If the exchange is wealth for wealth, it is a sale. If the exchange involves wealth, benefits, and efforts, it is leasing (ijarah).
- The exchange of permanent benefit is subject to the rules of sale, as in the case of Kharaj land.