, in retribution for his injustice toward the rightful owner of the land he had usurped.
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Wrongdoing is forbidden whether the matter be small or great; this is the point of mentioning even a handspan.
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Real property can be deemed usurped and brought under wrongful control merely by seizing it with one’s hand.
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Whoever owns the surface of a parcel of land also owns everything beneath it down to its deepest strata; therefore, no one may open a tunnel, passageway, or anything similar beneath another person’s land without that owner’s permission.
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He likewise owns the inert stones and mineral deposits found within it, and he is free to excavate them as he wishes.
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Scholars have likewise ruled that airspace follows the land; whoever owns a plot owns the sky and open space above it.
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The scholars state that the ḥadith explicitly affirms that the earth consists of seven layers, for the usurper is only encircled by what is connected to his ownership. This is supported by the narration recorded by Imām Aḥmad (16913) from Yaʿlā ibn Murrah, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “Whoever wrongfully takes even a handspan of land, Allah will oblige him to dig it out until he reaches the last of the seven earths, then He will place it as a collar around his neck until the Day of Resurrection, when the people’s disputes will be settled.” This accords with the Almighty’s words: “Allah is He who created seven heavens, and of the earth the like thereof” (Q 65:12).
Benefits
First: Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: If a person holds in his possession usurped property, stolen goods, items held in trust, deposits, pledged items, and the like, whose owners are unknown, he may give them in charity or spend them on communal needs, and he will be free of liability.
Second: Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: A person who has earned illicit wealth and then repents—such as the price of wine or the earnings of fornication—if he was unaware of its prohibition and only later learned of it, is permitted to benefit from it. If, however, he knew of the prohibition from the outset and then repented, he must give it away in charity, as Imām Aḥmad expressly stated.
Third: Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said: Whoever’s wealth is a mixture of lawful and unlawful and he cannot ascertain [the proportions]