in a way that gives grounds for suspecting improper motives—for example, by taking the money for himself on the interpretation that “I have an entitlement from the public treasury, but I am not given my due”—then this … (1).

He—may Allah have mercy on him—was asked:

Some people own properties inherited from their fathers and grandfathers, from which the ruler is entitled to a one-third share—that is, one third of the yield. A contractor purchased the ruler’s one-third share, then forcibly seized all their property. Is he entitled to do so or not?

He answered:

He has no right, on the grounds mentioned, to dispossess people of the properties they hold. Nor is it permissible on those grounds to deprive Muslims of their established possession of what rightfully belongs to them. Land subject to land tax, such as the Sawād and other lands, was transferred from a land-tax assessment to an assessment based on a share of the yield—as Abū Ja‘far al-Mansūr did with the Sawād of Iraq—while remaining in the possession of its holders.

Such land passes from its holders to their descendants and to others through inheritance, bequests and gifts, and likewise through sale, according to the sounder of the two scholarly opinions. Its legal status in the buyer’s possession is the same as in the seller’s possession. Such land is not subject to the rules of an endowment that cannot be sold, given away or inherited. Those who prohibited selling the land of the Sawād were mistaken in this respect, believing it to be like an endowment that may not be