Discover the meaning of the term Al-msaqaa (مساقاة) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 4 min readHanding over trees to one who will tend them for a share of their fruit.
In language: a mufa'ala form from al-saqy (watering), for its root is misaqiya.
A mufa'ala form from saqy. In the Sharia: contracting the handing over of trees to one who will work them, the fruit being between the two; in another wording: it is the transaction over trees for a part of what comes out of them, and it is called mu'amala in the dialect of Medina.
It is a mufa'ala form made from a one-agent verb, which is rare, as in 'safara' (he traveled) and 'afahu (may Allah heal him); al-msaqaa is from saqy, for its root is misaqiya. Al-Jawhari mentioned that al-msaqaa is a man's employing another man in palms or a vineyard to maintain them, so that he has a known share of their yield. In law: in 'al-Ikhtiyar': al-msaqaa is undertaking what the trees need. In 'Anis al-Fuqaha': handing over trees to one who will tend them for a part of their fruit. In 'al-Dustur': contracting the handing over of trees to one who will work them, the fruit being between the two; in another wording: it is the transaction over trees for a part of what comes out of them, and it is called mu'amala in the dialect of Medina. Ibn 'Arfa said: al-msaqaa is a contract upon the work of tending the plant, for a share not from other than its yield, without the wording of sale or ijara or ju'l (fixed fee). In 'al-Ta'rifat': handing over trees to one who will tend them for a part of their fruit. In 'al-Tawqif': a lawful contract of disposal like it upon palms or a planted vineyard, specific and visible, for a term in which it habitually bears fruit, for a known share between them of the fruit. In 'al-Rawd al-Murbi'': handing over trees bearing edible fruit and nothing else, planted, to another to undertake their watering and what they need, for a known share of their fruit.
Handing over palms and vines to be tended for a part of their fruit.
In language: from saqy. In law: a lawful contract of disposal like it upon palms or a planted vineyard, specific and visible, for a term in which it habitually bears fruit, for a known share between the two of the fruit.
It is the contract of handing over trees to one who will tend them for a part of their fruit; it is the mu'amala.
That a man employ another man in palms or vineyards to undertake their tending, on condition that they have a known share of what they yield. : The mu'amala in the dialect of the people of the Hijaz. In law: contracting the handing over of trees and vines to one who will tend them, for a known part of their fruit (al-Haskafi). In law: contracting the handing over of trees and vines to one who will tend them, for a known part of their fruit (al-Haskafi). In the Majalla (art. 1441): a kind of partnership in which the trees belong to one side and the tending to the other, and what is obtained of the fruit is divided between them.