it should be divided between us into two halves." He then performs the work, and there are two views regarding this. One is that it is permissible, and what he takes is to be divided between them, just as if he had said to him: "Harvest this crop for half or a third of it." This is because it is a substance that is developed by labor performed upon it, so it is valid to labor upon it for a portion of it, like mudaraba (profit-sharing) in currencies. The second view is that it is not valid, because what results from it is unknown, and because it is not valid to be a lease (ijara), as the compensation is unknown and the work is unknown. Neither can it be a wage contract (ju'ala), as the compensation is unknown; nor can it be mudaraba, because mudaraba is only valid with currencies, on the condition that the capital is returned and he receives a share of the profit, and that is not the case here. It is distinguished from harvesting crops for half or a part of them because the crop is known through observation, and whatever of it is known in its entirety, its part is also known, unlike this case. If he says: "Work in it for such and such, and you shall have what results from it, on the condition that you give me a thousand, or some known thing," it is not valid, because it is a sale of something unknown, and it cannot be a commercial transaction like mudaraba, for the reasons we have mentioned, and because mudaraba must be for a portion of the yield, not for specific known dirhams. Ahmad said: If one takes a mineral from a group on the condition that he develops it, works in it, and gives them two thousand mann (22) and one thousand mann of brass, then that is disliked (23), and he did not permit it.

Section (24): If a man hires someone to dig ten cubits for him in such-and-such a location for one dinar, it is valid because it is a known lease. If a vein of gold appears and he says: "I have hired you to extract it for one dinar," it is not valid because the work is unknown. But if he says: "If you extract it, you shall have a dinar," it is valid, and it constitutes a ju'ala (wage contract), because ju'ala is valid for unknown work, provided the compensation is known.

Section: Whoever is first to reach a visible or hidden mineral in uncultivated land (mawat) is more entitled to what he obtains from it, due to the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Whoever is first to reach that which no Muslim has reached before, it is his" (25). If he takes only the amount of his need and intends to stay there in a way that prevents others, he is prevented from doing so, because he is restricting people from that which has no benefit