Book on Reviving Dead Land and Lawful Appropriation of Unclaimed Property
Chapter: Legal Rulings on Reviving Dead Land
Chapter: Legal Rulings on Reviving Dead Land
“Dead land” (mawāt) ‑ with both the mīm and the wāw pronounced with a fatḥah ‑ is, in its literal sense, that which is devoid of life. What is meant here is land that has no owner.
The jurists (may Allah have mercy on them) define it as land free of all special rights and of the ownership of any protected person.
Two categories are therefore excluded by this definition:
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Land already owned by a protected person, Muslim or non-Muslim, whether through purchase, gift, or any other lawful conveyance.
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Land linked to a benefit belonging to a protected person—such as roads, courtyards, and water channels—or land that serves the public interests of an inhabited settlement, such as cemeteries, rubbish sites, the grounds set aside for the two ‘Īd prayers, firewood lots, and grazing lands. None of these may be acquired by reviving them.
Accordingly, when a tract of land is wholly devoid of any protected person’s ownership or rights and someone brings it to life, he acquires ownership of it, based on the marfūʿ ḥadīth of Jābir (Allah be pleased with him): “Whoever revives dead land, then it is—”