The Case of Tenant of Land Who Dies Before Expiration of Lease

1. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Ahmad from Yunus who has said the following: ‘I once wrote to al-Rida’ (a.s.), and asked about the case of a man who formed a contract with another man about land or something else for several known years and the landlord then decided to sell the land before the end of the contract; if the tenant could stop the sale before the end of the time of agreement and if so, what was the tenant’s responsibility. He (the Imam) wrote back the answer that said, ’He can sell it if he sets a condition upon the buyer that requires him to allow the tenant to use his years according to the contract of tenancy.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.

2. A number of our people have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad and Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Ali ibn Mahziyar from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad al-Hamadaniy and Muhammad ibn Ja’far al-Raziy from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Ibrahim al-Hamadaniy who has said the following: “I once wrote to abu al-Hassan (a.s.), and asked about the case of a woman who had rented her asset for ten years, that the rent had to be paid at the end of every year and there would be no rent before the end of such time; but she died before three years or after it; if it was necessary for her heirs to continue with the terms of the contract or that the contract terminated because of the death of the woman. He (the Imam) wrote the answer that said, ‘If the time was specified which was not complete yet and she died, her heir could have the rent. If the time was not complete or one-third or half or so was complete, the heirs could have the rent proportionate to the time used, by the will of Allah.’”

Translation: Muhammad Sarwar — attributed by Thaqalayn·The Arabic above is the original.