We say: It is permissible subject to three conditions:

First: the one who designates it as protected grazing land must be the imam, namely, the public authority governing the state.

Second: it must be designated for the animals belonging to the Muslims. These include the animals of the zakah, the animals acquired as fay', the animals of unknown owners, and the like. They belong to the Muslim public at large, not to any one individual.

Third: his statement, “provided that he does not harm them.” An instance of harm would be where there is no pasture around a town other than this one, and designating it as protected grazing land would cause hardship to the people.

If one of the people wished to designate it as protected grazing land for the animals of the Muslims, but had no authority over it, this would not be permissible, because it is an encroachment upon the imam’s authority and an acting ahead of him. Likewise, if someone wished to carry out the prescribed punishment upon an adulterer, he has no right to do so; no one possesses this authority except the imam or his deputy. Similarly, no one may designate pasture as protected grazing land for the animals of the Muslims except the imam or his deputy.

If one of the imams wished to reserve for himself and his own animals a pasture that he considered beautiful and rich in herbage, this would not be permissible, because people share in three things: water, pasture, and fire (1). Thus, it is not lawful for him to reserve it and prevent people from grazing there.