Chapter: Reviving Dead Land

This is land free of rights of exclusive use and of ownership by a protected person. Whoever revives it becomes its owner, …

The author’s statement, “Reviving dead land”: “reviving” is the verbal noun of “to revive,” meaning to bring life to something dead. “Dead land” is derived from death. They use the term mawāt (dead land) rather than maytah (dead), because “dead land” may refer to land upon which no vegetation grows, as Allah the Exalted says:

“And a sign for them is the dead earth: We give it life and bring forth from it grain, of which they eat.” [Ya-Sin]

Thus, here they refer to it as mawāt in order to distinguish it from land on which there is no vegetation.

The author defines dead land as: “land free of rights of exclusive use and of ownership by a protected person.”

His statement, “land free,” means land that is vacant.

His statement, “of rights of exclusive use,” includes such things as flood channels, places for gathering firewood, pasturelands, public utilities, and the forecourts of houses—where people deposit their rubbish. Such places are not owned, but are reserved for the interests of the town generally or for the interests of each individual house. Thus, the forecourt of a house—the open area or yard in front of it—may be used for depositing sweepings or the like. Although it is not owned, it is reserved for the householder’s use and benefit. The same applies to public utilities, such as watercourses, places for gathering firewood or cutting grass, pasturelands, and the like. Roads are likewise included. We call these