When land is brought under the legal ruling of a protected reserve in order to preserve its status as uncultivated land, I examine its status. If the reserve is for all people, then everyone is equal in access to it—rich and poor, Muslims and dhimmīs (non-Muslim subjects under Muslim protection)—for grazing its pasture with their horses and livestock. If it is restricted to Muslims, their rich and poor share it, while the dhimmīs are barred from it. If it is restricted to the poor Muslims, the wealthy and the dhimmīs are barred from it. It is not permissible for it to be restricted to the wealthy to the exclusion of the poor, nor to the dhimmīs to the exclusion of the Muslims. If it is reserved for livestock designated for zakat or for the horses of those engaged in jihad, no one else may share it.
The protected reserve then remains governed by the scope—general or restricted—for which it was established. If a reserve designated for a specific group becomes large enough for the general public, it is permissible for them to share it, since this would remove any harm from those for whom it was designated. If a general reserve is too limited to accommodate everyone, it may not be restricted to the wealthy among them. As for restricting it to the poor, that is a possible legal view.
When the legal status of a protected reserve has been established over a tract of land, and someone comes upon it, revives it by cultivating it, and thereby nullifies its protected status, I examine the matter. If it is among the reserves established by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the reserve remains in force and the cultivation is invalid.
If it is among those placed under reserve by the rulers after him, two views are possible. The first is that the cultivation is not recognized and that the land remains subject to the ruling of a protected reserve, just like the land reserved by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The other possibility is that the cultivation is recognized and that its legal status is stronger than that of the reserve, in view of the general wording of the Prophet’s statement (peace and blessings be upon him): “Whoever brings dead land to life, it belongs to him.”
No ruler may charge livestock owners a fee for access to uncultivated pastures or protected reserves, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “People are partners in three things: water, fire, and pasture.”
As for public-use rights, they consist in people making use of places in marketplaces, the open spaces along streets, the public precincts of cities, and stopping places on journeys. They fall into three categories: one concerning deserts and open country; one concerning the open spaces adjoining properties; and one concerning streets and roads.
The first category—places in deserts and open country—includes travelers’ stopping places and places where water is found. This is of two types. The first is intended for wayfarers to pass through and travelers to rest in; the ruler has no jurisdiction over it because of its remoteness.