Rice Field Sale at the Village of Kuniran, District of Sine, Regency of Ngawi In Islam Perspectives

Rice field sales on a yearly land tenure conducted by the Kuniran villagers over years are considered legally flawed. Despite the rice field purchase, ownerships are of the same landlords prior to the transactions. Those “unique” transactions inevitably raise questions and trigger legal issues within society as to whether such transactions have met the legal principles revealed in Islam and reasons for maintaining the respective traditions in society and whether such practices are justifiable in Islam. The method of empirical legal research and qualitative approach are used. Furthermore, the result demonstrated that the annual rice sales transactions are illegal under Islam as the sale involves a negative element in fiqh muamalah (a branch of Islamic jurisprudence involving commercial and economic activities) defined as gharar (uncertainty) since there is no deal concerning the ownership tenure settled between the parties involved in the transaction. Therefore, landlords could easily claim the rice fields previously purchased without the buyer’s consent at any time. Nonetheless, such land acquisitions make a little difference on the land ownership titles. In other words, the rice fields remain the landlords’ property despite the transaction. The business activity has been practiced by the Kuniran villagers out of tradition and economic factor.