ABSTRACT
The most important legal institution that contributes towards transforming the possession of arable lands into rent-yielding property is the contract of tenancy (ijiira). It derives its name from the terms ajror ujra (rent, salary). 1 This type of contract is used for a variety of economic purposes. It represents, as Schacht has shown, a combination of three formerly separate transactions, i.e. kirii", the renting of real property (corresponding to the locatio conductio rei), ijiira, the hiring of salaried labour (locatio conductio operarum) and ju'"l (locatio conductio operis!Werkvertrag). This combination of three formerly separate transactions into one type of contract was most probably effected during the first Islamic century. 2 Its origin partly explains the complex character of the contract of ijiira. But there is a more important reason for the complex character of this contract. Under the contract of ijiira, labour and the productive use of land are 'commodified' - to use a modern sociological neologism. This process of 'reification' of human activities adds to the complexity of the contract. Its complicated structure may explain the fact that we do not have, in Western literature, any detailed and comprehensive analysis of the contract of ijiira according to Hanafite law.3 The following pages are not intended to give such a comprehensive and detailed analysis. They are restricted to the legal ordinances concerning the renting of arable lands. Even with regard to the 'contract of tenancy' it is not my intention to give a detailed and comprehensive analysis of all legal ordinances. My contribution is meant to explain the relationship between the contractual and the non-contractual elements in a legal relationship of tenancy.
