An interesting part of Ijara or leasing in Sharia is the classification of the usufruct by the Islamic jurists as a commodity which can

be freely bought and sold. Simply put, the usufruct (Sharia term "Manfa'a") is the legitimate right owned by a lessee to use the leased asset uninterrupted for the period agreed with the lessor, provided that it fulfils the conditions attached to such leasing, including timely payment of lease rentals and usage of the leased asset only for the agreed purpose. Keeping that in mind, is it permissible under Sharia that, similar to any other commodity, the ownership and commercial benefits of the usufruct can also be shared by several persons? Yes, it is allowable in Sharia that a number of lessees may join hands in order to collectively "purchase" the usufruct of an asset from the lessor (leasing the asset) and share the commercial benefits of the usufruct pro-rata, derived by "selling" the usufruct (sub-leasing the asset). he Sharia way of doing it is to form a consortium whereby one of the consortium members is appointed as the investment agent by way of signing an investment agency contract. Here, the agent will represent the consortium members, including itself. The agent would then enter into a lease contract with the lessor and pay the lease rentals contributed by all consortium members pro-rata. Once the asset has been leased, or in other words the usufruct connected to the asset has been purchased, the agent will sign a sub-lease contract with the sub-lessee at higher lease rentals, thereby selling the usufruct connected to the asset. The first lease contract is called the head-lease and the second one the sub-lease. The modes of payment of the lease rentals under the head-lease and sub-lease may vary, depending on the agreement between the two sets of parties. It may be possible that under the head-lease, the rentals are paid upfront whereas under the sub-lease these are payable on deferred basis. It is also allowed in Sharia if both rentals are paid on deferred or on upfront basis. Islamic jurists have laid down the following conditions for the usufruct of an asset to be purchased and sold: 1) The usufruct of the leased asset must not be Sharia repugnant i.e. the asset should not be used for the purposes prohibited by Sharia. 2) The usufruct must be deliverable. In other words, the lessee should be able to derive the intended benefits out of the usufruct. For example, a piece of land from desert cannot be leased as it is incapable of providing any usage or benefit to the lessee. 3) The usufruct must benefit the lessee, and not the lessor. It means that the lessor must part with the possession of the leased asset to enable the lessee to have its quite enjoyment.

4) The usufruct must not be comprised of separately identifiable elements of the same leased asset which could be sub-leased independently. An example is renting of a single property as a whole which can also be sub-leased as a whole, and not part by part to different sub-lessees. 5) The usufruct must be clearly defined by way of characteristics, amount and specifying the object from which such usufruct will be extracted. In case of an aircraft leasing, the aircraft should be clearly identified along with the lease period, amount and purpose.