knows best. Abū Hanīfa and his companions held that, if one co-owner requests an allocation of use for residing in a house, wearing a garment, or employing a slave’s services, any co-owner who refuses must be compelled to accept, whether the property is divisible or indivisible. If it is indivisible, its use is allocated among them by periods of time. If it is divisible, it is divided among them in proportion to their shares, and each benefits from the portion allotted to him for that period. Al-Tahāwī argued in support of this view from the hadith concerning “the woman who offered herself in marriage to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. A man said to him, ‘Marry her to me if you have no need of her.’ In that report, the man says, ‘I have nothing but this waist-wrapper of mine; she may have half of it.’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘What would you do with your waist-wrapper? If you wore it, she would have none of it, and if she wore it, you would have none of it.’” His words indicate that, had they concluded the marriage on that basis, each would have been entitled to wear the entire garment while owning half of it. And Allah knows best.
Section
This category also includes allocating an endowment for the purpose of deriving income. One view is that it may be divided, that anyone who refuses must be compelled to accept the division, and that the arrangement remains effective among the beneficiaries until a death or birth brings about a change involving an increase or decrease. Those who held this view cited the ruling that, when someone establishes an endowment during his illness for his children and grandchildren, it is divided according to the number of children and grandchildren. They also cited other apparent indications found in the jurists’ rulings. Another view is that it may not be divided under any circumstances. Those who held this view cited Mālik’s statement in al-Mudawwana: “An endowment is not to be divided or split up.” A third view is that it may not be divided unless the beneficiaries mutually agree to an allocation for deriving income, in which case they may do so.
Section
Division is a binding contract. When co-owners validly divide property that may lawfully be divided, whether by mutual agreement or by drawing lots, the division becomes binding, and none of them may annul it or withdraw from it. It is invalidated only by a previously unknown circumstance coming to light, such as the appearance of a creditor