Fiqh Muamalah Perspective on the "Maro" Agricultural Profit-Sharing System: A Case Study of Rice Farming in Kemang Village, Bojongpicung District, Cianjur Regency

Abstract

Abstract. This study examines the mechanism of the maro profit-sharing arrangement practiced in rice farming in Desa Kemang, Bojongpicung Subdistrict, Cianjur Regency, analyzed from the perspective of fiqh muamalah. The practice has persisted for generations on the basis of local 'urf (customary norms) without a written agreement, raising questions regarding its conformity with the contractual requirements of Islamic law. This study aims to identify the operational mechanism of the profit-sharing system and to analyze its compatibility with agricultural contracts as recognized in fiqh muamalah. Employing a qualitative field-research design with a juridical-empirical method, data were collected through interviews with landowners and cultivators, direct observation, and literature review. The findings reveal that the maro practice is conceptually consistent with the mukhabarah contract, a land-cultivation partnership in which the landowner provides the land while the cultivator bears all production costs, with the harvest divided according to a nisbah (profit-sharing ratio) agreed upon orally. Two essential deficiencies were nonetheless identified: the absence of an explicit, written nisbah and the lack of a clearly defined contract term, both of which risk generating gharar (uncertainty) and future disputes. Drawing on the concept of tashih al-'uqud, the practice is classified as a fasid (defective) contract requiring correction so that its status may be elevated to a valid and binding shahih nafiz contract.