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Real Estate Jul 13, 2026

Mortgaged Land and Usufruct-Mortgage (Bhogbondhok)

Question

Land is mortgaged as loan security — in the common rural 'bhogbondhok', the lender farms the land and keeps the produce. What are the rulings and zakat here?

Ruling (Fatwa)

Short answer: (1) Mortgaged land remains the owner's — personal/agricultural land keeps its usual rules (no zakat on value; ushr on crops), and trade-goods land stays zakatable at market value despite the mortgage. (2) 'Bhogbondhok' — the lender enjoying the land's produce in exchange for the loan — falls under riba per evidence-based scholars: any stipulated benefit drawn from a loan is the essence of riba. The contract should be exited for lawful alternatives (a separate market-rate lease, or selling a portion). Details: Pledging (rahn) itself is lawful — the Quran endorses held collateral; what is impermissible is the lender consuming the pledge's yield, being profit on a loan. In bhogbondhok, ushr on the crop falls on whoever farms and owns the produce; yet paying ushr does not cleanse the unlawful contract — it must be corrected. Evidence: Quran 2:283 (legitimacy of pledges); Quran 2:275; Sahih al-Bukhari 2068 (the Prophet ﷺ pawned his armour for barley — collateral yes, lender's extra benefit no); the Permanent Committee and Shaykh Ibn Baz that consuming a pledged land's produce against a loan is riba. For complex individual cases, consult a qualified scholar.

References

Quran Quran 2:283, 2:275
Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari 2068
Fiqh Permanent Committee; Ibn Baz on pledge yield