What is the ruling on renting an orchard that produces fruit for a period exceeding ten years, with its rent paid year by year in advance, considering that the lessor is responsible for damages resulting from pests?

Renting trees to take their fruit is not permissible according to the majority of scholars, because it is the sale of a tangible asset and not the sale of usufruct. The subject of a rental agreement (ijarah (definition)) is usufruct, whereas fruit is a tangible asset that cannot be acquired through a rental contract. Ibn Taymiyyah and those who agreed with him considered it permissible, but the more appropriate stance is to prohibit it due to the ambiguity (jahala) and gharar (definition) (excessive uncertainty) involved, as the quantity and quality of the fruit are unknown.