---
title: "What is Sub-lease (ijarah from a lessee)? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "A lease granted by a lessee to a third party over the usufruct it holds, unless the owner has prohibited it."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/sub-lease/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Lease, agency and service contracts](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#lease)

Lease, agency and service contracts

# Sub-lease (ijarah from a lessee)

A lease granted by a lessee to a third party over the usufruct it holds, unless the owner has prohibited it.

A sub-lease is a lease that a lessee grants to a third party over the right of use it holds under its own lease. AAOIFI's ijarah standard allows a lessee to sub-lease to someone other than the owner for the same, a lower or a higher rental, paid now or later, unless the owner has stipulated that the lessee may not sublet, or may do so only with approval. This is the basis on which a bank can lease an asset it has itself leased, so long as its head lease permits sub-letting.

## Sources

- [AAOIFI Shari'ah Standards, English edition (full text, PDF): Shari'ah Standard No. 9, Ijarah, item 3/3](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

[**Ijarah** A lease: the lessor owns the asset and sells its use for an agreed rent over an agreed period.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah/) [**Ijarah mawsufah fi al-dhimmah (forward lease)** A forward lease of an asset described by specifications, with use starting on a future date once it is delivered.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah-mawsufah-fi-dhimmah/) [**Sukuk al-ijarah** Sukuk whose holders own leased assets and receive the rent paid by the lessee as their return.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/sukuk-al-ijarah/) [**Ijarah of services** The service side of ijarah: hiring a person's work or a defined service for a specified period and fee.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah-of-services/)

**Lease, agency and service contracts**

1. [Ijarah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah/)
2. [Ijarah muntahia bittamleek](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah-muntahia-bittamleek/)
3. [Wakalah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/wakalah/)
4. [Kafalah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/kafalah/)
5. [Hawalah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/hawalah/)
6. [Ju'alah](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/jualah/)
7. [Rahn](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/rahn/)
8. [Ijarah mawsufah fi al-dhimmah (forward lease)](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/ijarah-mawsufah-fi-dhimmah/)

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