The Precepts of Renting
2201. The renter and the one renting out must both be sane and b¡ligh. They must also not be wrongfully compelled to the act of renting. If they are, but later consent to it, the rental agreement will be sanctioned. They must also have the right of disposal over their own property. Therefore, the act of renting or renting out by a feeble-minded person, or a bankrupt person who has been interdicted by the ¦¡kim al-shar’yy from disposing his own property, is not sanctioned, unless it be with the permission of the guardian or the people who are owed. Of course, if a bankrupt person wishes to offer himself on hire for a job or a service, the act is sanctioned and does not require anyone’s permission.
2202. A person may deputize for another party and rent out his property, or rent a property for him.
2203. If the guardian or the caretaker of a child rents out the child’s property, or offers him on hire to another person, there will be no problem in it.
Now if a part of the agreement includes a period wherein the child is b¡ligh, the child may cancel the remaining period within the agreement once he becomes b¡ligh. If, however, the reason for hiring him for the period that includes a period wherein he is b¡ligh is due to a reason, observing which is canonically obligatory, the agreement with respect to the period after he becomes b¡ligh is also sanctioned. The obligatory precaution is that it should be carried out with the permission of the ¦¡kim al-shar’yy.
2204. It is not permissible to hire a minor child who has no guardian, without the permission of a just jurisprudent. As for someone who is unable to contact a just jurisprudent, he may seek the permission of several just believers and hire the child. In the event that several just believers cannot be located, the permission of one just believer will also be adequate.
2205. It is not necessary that the renter or the one renting out to articulate the formal expression in Arabic; rather, if the owner says to someone, “I have rented my property to you,” and he responds by saying, “I have accepted,” the rental agreement will be valid. In fact, even if they do not articulate any words, and the owner places the property in the renter’s possession with the intention of renting it out, and the one renting out also accepts with the intention of renting it, the rental agreement will be valid.
2206. If a person wishes to be hired for a particular job without articulating its formal expression, the act of hiring will be valid the moment he engages himself in that job.
2207. If a person who is unable to speak conveys through gestures that he has rented out a property, or has rented a property, the rental agreement will be valid.
2208. If a person rents an estate, and the owner stipulates that the benefits derived from it should be solely for the renter, and that the renter may not transfer it to anyone else, then he cannot sublet the estate to someone else. However, if he (only) stipulates that the renter himself enjoy the benefits from the estate, then the renter may sublet it to someone else provided that the renter himself enjoys its benefits.
An example of this is a case wherein the renter who has rented a house, rents it to a person and commits him through a condition or similar agreement to find a residence for the renter himself, and that person accommodates him in the very same house. Another example is that of a woman who rents a house, and then rents it out to her husband who accommodates her in the same house.
In the event that the renter is permitted to sublet it to another person, and he wishes to rent out a house, a store, or a ship—and based on obligatory precaution, a room or a mill—for an amount that is higher than what he rented it for, then he should have done some work on it, such as renovating it or white-washing it, or he should rent it out for something other than what he rented it for, such as renting it out for wheat or some other commodity if he rented it with money.
2209. If a person who is hired to perform a task, stipulates that the task that he has been hired to perform be solely for the person who has hired him, and that he should not be transferred to someone else, then the hirer cannot hire him out to another person. However, if he (only) stipulates that the hirer himself make use of his labor, in the manner that was elaborated in the previous article, the hirer may hire him out to another person. In the event that one is permitted to do so, and wishes to hire him out for the same thing that he paid to hire him, he may not take more than what he paid. However, if he hires him for something else, he may take more than what he paid.
2210. If a person rents or hires something other than a house, a store, a ship, or a person, and based on obligatory precaution, a room or a mill, and the owner does not stipulate a clause that prohibits him from renting it out to someone else, there is no problem in subletting it even if it be for an amount that is higher than what he has rented it for.
2211. If a person leases a store for $30,000 per year, and makes use of half of it himself, he may lease out the other half for $30,000. However, if he wishes to rent out the other half for an amount that is higher than what he rented it for, for example $40,000, he must do some work on it, such as renovating it, or rent it out for something other than what he rented it for.
