Al-Sharḥ al-Mumtiʿ - Ibn al-'Uthaymin - (10/340)

Al-Sharḥ al-MumtiʿIbn al-'Uthaymin

An example of this is a valley in which someone has cultivated land and from which he irrigates his crops. Then another person comes and occupies land farther upstream in the valley. We do not give precedence to the one farther upstream, because the first person has the stronger right by virtue of having come first. But if we assume that they both reclaimed their lands at the same time, or if we do not know which of them came first, then the one upstream is given precedence.

The evidence for this is found in the authentic hadith concerning the dispute between an Anṣārī man and al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, may Allah be pleased with them, over the watercourses of al-Ḥarrah. This watercourse ran down to both of their gardens. Al-Zubayr, may Allah be pleased with him, would irrigate and then release the water to his neighbour without any fixed measure. But the neighbour said, “No; irrigation must be shared equally.” That is, if you irrigate your crops and the water is sufficient only for your crops, you must nevertheless give me a share of it.

They therefore took their dispute to the Prophet ﷺ, and he ruled in favour of al-Zubayr, because he had the stronger right. He said to him, “Irrigate, then release it to your neighbour,” leaving it unrestricted. This is fulfilled by the least amount that may be called irrigation. But the Anṣārī man was overcome by tribal zeal and said, “Is it because he is your cousin, O Messenger of Allah?” May Allah forgive him. In other words, it was as though he thought that the Messenger ﷺ had taken kinship into consideration; and maintaining ties of kinship is obligatory, so he thought that he ﷺ wished to give precedence to his relative because maintaining kinship ties is obligatory. Thus, he thought—may Allah be pleased with him and forgive him—that the Messenger ﷺ had considered this and ruled in al-Zubayr’s favour.

It is highly unlikely that the Anṣārī man intended to suggest that the Messenger ﷺ had acted unjustly, although his wording undeniably admits that possibility. Yet we should think well of him and say that he assumed the Messenger ﷺ had instructed al-Zubayr to irrigate because he was his relative, and that this was an act of maintaining kinship ties. The Prophet ﷺ then preserved al-Zubayr’s right for him and said, “Irrigate until it reaches

مثال ذلك: هذا الوادي زرع فيه إنسان، وصار يسقي زرعه منه، ثم جاء إنسان وتقدم إلى أعلى الوادي، فلا نعطي المتقدم؛ لأن الأول أحق لسبقه، لكن إذا قدرنا أنهم أحيوا جميعاً، أو أننا لا نعلم مَنْ المتقدم فإنه يقدم الأعلى، ودليل ذلك ما جاء في الحديث الصحيح من تشاجر الأنصاري والزبير بن العوام ﵄ في شِراج الحرة، حيث ينزل هذا الشراج إلى الحائطين جميعاً، فكان الزبير ﵁ يسقي ثم يرسل إلى جاره من غير تقدير، فقال الجار: لا، لا بد أن يكون السقي بالسوية، بمعنى أنك إذا سقيت زرعك وكان الماء لا يكفي إلا زرعك فلا بد أن تجعل لي نصيباً منه، فتخاصما إلى النبي ﷺ فقضى للزبير؛ لأنه أحق، وقال له: اسق ثم أرسل إلى جارك، وأطلق، وهذا يحصل بأقل ما يسمى سقياً، ولكن الأنصاري أخذته الحمية وقال: أن كان ابن عمتك يا رسول الله؟! ـ عفا الله عنه ـ يعني كأنه ظن أن الرسول ﷺ راعى القرابة، وصلة القرابة واجبة فأراد ﵊ أن يقدم قرابته؛ لأن صلة القرابة واجبة، فظن ﵁ وعفا عنه ـ أن الرسول ﷺ راعى هذا وحكم للزبير، ويبعد جداً أن يكون الأنصاري أشار إلى حيف الرسول ﷺ لكن لفظه يحتمله ولا شك، ولكن علينا أن نحسن الظن به، وأن نقول: إنه ظن أن الرسول ﷺ أمر الزبير أن يسقي؛ لأنه كان من قرابته وكان هذا من صلة الرحم، فاحتفظ النبي ﷺ للزبير بحقه فقال: «اسق حتى يصل إلى