Is it permissible for the mortgagee (I) to cultivate the mortgaged land and benefit from it without paying rent to the owner (my brother) in exchange for a loan, and is that considered usury (riba)?

The owner of mortgaged land has the primary right to its produce, because the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "The mortgage does not close its owner off. Its gain is for him, and its burden is upon him." Moreover, the mortgagee's utilization of the mortgage in return for a loan is considered usury (riba), and the Islamic legal principle prohibits this, based on the Prophet's saying, peace and blessings be upon him: "Every loan that draws a benefit is usury."

The legitimate solution lies in utilizing the land through rent (keraa) or sharecropping (muzara'a), and its yield belongs to the mortgagor. The creditor can then take his debt from this yield.