A type of sale (bay’) in which grains in ears are sold for dry (processed) grain. For example, this sale could involve the exchange of five tons of processed grain for the produce of one hectare of wheat-planted land (usually, one hectare yields 7-8 tons of “unprocessed” wheat). Muhaqalah may also refer to a transaction whereby a landowner lets his land on lease to one who pays ujrah (rental) in the form of its produce of wheat.

Whether it comes in the guise of sale or lease, muhaqalah is impermissible from a shari’a point of view, due to the potentiality of riba, i.e., the exchange of two unequal amounts of a ribawi item (wheat or barley), and also because of the element of uncertainly as to the countervalues exchanged.

Muhaqalah is an Arabic term that is derived from haql (field), implying a transaction which is based on raw produce (before or as it is harvested from a field in its unprocessed state).