Ray': agricultural yield, rental proceeds, and waqf revenue in Islamic jurisprudence

الريع

Ray' lexically denotes growth, increase, and elevated ground, and in Islamic jurisprudence it signifies the agricultural produce of land, the fruits of trees, or the rental revenues derived from real estate and leased assets, in contrast to profit (ribh) generated through commerce. ¹ Legal transactions such as endowments (waqf), bequests (wasiyya), sharecropping (muzara'a), and agricultural irrigation partnerships (musaqat) may be established upon future yield, and scholars disagreed over whether an endower may stipulate the waqf's proceeds for himself: the Hanafis and Hanbalis permit it, whereas the Malikis and Shafi'is disallow it. ² Revenues of an endowment are distributed in accordance with the founder's stipulations, though maintenance and upkeep of the underlying property take precedence over distributing income so that the physical asset is preserved. ³ Bequeathing the perpetual or temporary usufruct and proceeds of an estate is valid, granting ownership of the property to heirs while granting income to the legatee, and irrigation partnerships for a proportional share of fruit are valid. ⁴ Sharecropping for an undivided percentage of agricultural output is permissible according to the majority of Companions and jurists, and an unlawful usurper of real property is liable for fair rental yield according to the Malikis, Shafi'is, and Hanbalis. ⁵ Zakat on agricultural produce and fruits is obligatory upon land output as established in surah al-Baqarah: 267 and surah al-An'am: 141, the legal reason being actual fruitful growth, excluding spontaneously growing firewood or wild weeds not intended for cultivation. ⁶