a wall around it, even though it is beside the house and nothing separates them but the wall, then the reclamation is valid and he acquires ownership of it. But the author says, “provided it is not connected to its interests.” If it is connected to the interests of the inhabited area—for instance, as pasture for their livestock, an open space for dumping refuse, or a place from which they gather firewood—then he does not acquire it, and no one may take ownership of it. If someone does take possession of it, any structure he builds must be demolished, and any trees he plants must be uprooted, because land connected to people’s interests is not free of established rights. It is therefore not considered uncultivated land according to the juristic definition.

If we suppose that a man built a house beside another house that had been reclaimed and whose owner had settled there, can the owner of the first house demand from this later claimant the value of the wall between them?

The answer is that he cannot demand it from him, because the first man built the wall to protect his own house and on the understanding that it was his property, whereas this other man’s reclamation occurred only afterward. Therefore, he cannot demand from him the value of the wall between them. But if it is assumed that the land has been divided into plots, each plot designated for a house, and one of the two neighbors delays building his home until the other has built, then he is not excused from paying his share of the wall’s cost. Some people may resort to such a stratagem, saying, “I shall delay construction, and when my neighbor builds, I will no longer have to pay for the wall.” In this case, it is appropriate judicially to require him to pay the amount due from him toward the value of the wall, so as to block the schemes of those who employ such stratagems.

However, if the neighbor had no intention of building, but subsequently did build, then he is not required to pay anything toward the value of the wall. This is why the Prophet ﷺ said: “Let no neighbor prevent his neighbor from placing his timbers upon his wall.” Abu Hurayrah, when he was governor of Medina, said: “Why do I see you turning away from it? By Allah, I shall cast it between your shoulders” (1)—meaning, I shall cast the timbers.