the branch that extends through the air, provided that it causes no harm. For the Prophet ﷺ said: “Let no neighbour prevent his neighbour from placing his beams upon his wall.” (1) If the Lawgiver has forbidden me from preventing my neighbour from placing beams on the wall, then what of palm fronds that are far away, cause no harm, and do not shed leaves, as palm trees do?! It does not harm me if the palm frond is over my property. Moreover, this is part of the good neighbourliness enjoined by Allah and His Messenger ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should honour his neighbour.” (2) It is also something customary among people.

But if the entire tree were to lean over onto me—for example, if a large palm tree were struck by a storm and tilted until it lay entirely over my house—then I have the right to demand its removal, because this threatens me.

If the owner of the tree said to the owner of the land, “I will make a settlement with you by paying you such-and-such every month,” would this rental arrangement be valid?

We say: It would not be valid, because the branches will extend and grow, so the area they will occupy in the future is unknown; therefore, it cannot be rented for a fixed payment. But if we assume that he rents it to him according to the area occupied, saying, “If the branch occupies an area of one metre, then it is for such-and-such; or if it occupies an area of two metres, then it is for such-and-such,” then the apparent view is that this is valid, because it involves neither a legal prohibition nor uncertainty. And if he makes a settlement with him whereby he is entitled to half of