This figure may be understood as being proportionate to his need—that is, the passageway required for the water-drawing animal. If it falls short of his need, he is entitled to whatever space meets that need, rather than being restricted to the stated number.

The basis for this measurement is the report transmitted by Abū Bakr al-Khallāl in his Book of Crop-Sharing and Irrigation: “Al-Ḥasan”—meaning Ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAffān—narrated to us; Yaḥyā—meaning Ibn Ādam—narrated to us; Abū Ḥammād informed us, from Sufyān ibn Saʿīd, from Ismāʿīl ibn Umayyah, from al-Zuhrī, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: “The protected zone of an ancient well is fifty cubits, and the protected zone of a newly dug well is twenty-five cubits.”

He also said: “Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab said, ‘The protected zone of a crop well is three hundred cubits.’” He further said: “Al-Zuhrī said, ‘For a spring and the area surrounding it, [the protected zone is] three hundred cubits.’” Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dāraquṭnī likewise transmitted it in his Sunan, with his chain of transmission from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, from Abū Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “The protected zone of a newly dug well is twenty-five cubits; the protected zone of an ancient well is fifty cubits; the protected zone of a flowing spring is three hundred cubits; and the protected zone for crops is six hundred cubits.” Thus, he transmitted it with this additional wording and with a connected chain.

Once his ownership of the well and its protected zone has been established, he has the strongest right to its water. The water itself does not become his property before he draws it and takes possession of it; rather, he owns it only after taking possession. He may prevent others from taking possession of it by drawing it. If someone overcomes him and draws the water, however, it cannot be reclaimed from him.

Aḥmad explicitly stated this in the narration of Abū Ṭālib, saying: “He may not sell the standing water of the well to anyone. If he draws it and carries it away, then whatever he sells is payment for his labor.” He also said, in the narration of Ḥarb, concerning a man who had water in a canal, or an irrigation right in a canal, but owned no land: “He may not sell that water. The Prophet ﷺ prohibited the sale of water, and we know of no one who permitted the sale of water except al-Ḥasan.”