---
title: "What is Muzara'ah (sharecropping partnership)? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "A partnership in which one party provides land and the other cultivates it, for an agreed share of the crop."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/muzaraah/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Partnership and investment](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#partnership)

Partnership and investment

# Muzara'ah (sharecropping partnership)

A partnership in which one party provides land and the other cultivates it, for an agreed share of the crop.

Muzara'ah is a sharecropping partnership: one party provides land to another, who cultivates and maintains it in return for an agreed common share of the crop. AAOIFI's partnership standard defines it among the classical partnerships, and its sukuk standard allows certificates that represent muzara'ah to be traded once the activity has started, where the holders own the land. The defining feature is that both parties share in the actual harvest rather than one of them receiving a fixed rent, which is what distinguishes it from a lease of land.

## Sources

- [AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English edition (full text, PDF): Shari'ah Standard No. 12, Appendix C, sharecropping partnership](https://aaoifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Shariaa-Standards-ENG.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Musaqat (irrigation partnership)** A partnership in which one party provides fruit trees and the other tends and irrigates them for a share of the fruit.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/musaqat/) [**Shirkah (partnership: inan, mufawadah, abdan, wujuh)** Partnership in Islamic law, with classical forms based on capital, work or credit and a rule that losses follow capital.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shirkah/) [**Salam** A forward sale: the full price is paid at signing for precisely specified goods to be delivered later.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/salam/) [**Sukuk** Certificates of equal value representing undivided shares in the ownership of assets, usufruct, services or a project.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/sukuk/)

**Partnership and investment**

1. [Mudarabah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/mudarabah/)
2. [Musharakah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/musharakah/)
3. [Diminishing musharakah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/diminishing-musharakah/)
4. [Rabb al-mal](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/rabb-al-mal/)
5. [Mudarib](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/mudarib/)
6. [Profit sharing ratio](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/profit-sharing-ratio/)
7. [Restricted mudarabah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/restricted-mudarabah/)
8. [Unrestricted mudarabah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/unrestricted-mudarabah/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)