to take half its cost from this neighbour?! Yes, it would be binding upon him if we knew that the neighbour had been slow and delayed building in order to wait for his neighbour to build.

Thus, the condition for placing the timber is that it must not harm the wall; and the condition indicated by the author is that the neighbour must need to place the timber.

His statement, “The same applies to a mosque,” means that a mosque is like a neighbour’s property. If a neighbour of the mosque needs to place his timber upon the mosque wall, or to embed it into the wall, there is nothing wrong with this, provided the two aforementioned conditions are met: necessity and the absence of harm to the wall.

It should not be said, “The mosque is a public endowment for the Muslims.” Rather, it should be said that the effective consideration is the benefit of both parties: this does not harm the mosque and is beneficial to the neighbour.

His statement, “and other than it,” means such as schools, lodges, orphanages, and similar public endowments. He may place his timber upon them just as he may place it upon his neighbour’s wall, subject to the two aforementioned conditions: the need to place the timber and the absence of harm to the wall.

The apparent meaning of the author’s words is that a neighbour may raise his building higher than that of his neighbour—for example, making it five or six storeys while his neighbour has only one storey—because the airspace follows the land. This is correct, and he may do so even if it blocks the sun and air from his neighbour, since this is his property. However, if we know that he intends to harm his neighbour, then we prevent him, because a person is not permitted to harm his neighbour; causing harm is prohibited in the Sacred Law. This applies even if a man wishes to