—as when a father gives a gift to his son, according to hadith jurists such as al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad—is a distinct kind of ownership, since someone other than the owner is entitled to reclaim the property from him and rescind the contract.

The same applies to all property held under a contract that either contracting party is entitled to rescind. Examples include property sold subject to a condition, according to those who hold that ownership passes to the purchaser, as do al-Shāfi‘ī and Ahmad in one of their respective opinions; property sold to a purchaser who becomes insolvent and cannot pay the price, according to the hadith jurists and the scholars of the Hijaz; and property sold in which a defect or the absence of a stipulated attribute subsequently becomes apparent, according to all Muslims. In these cases, whether the transaction involves an exchange or a gratuitous transfer, the contracting party is entitled to reclaim the property, whereas a father’s property is not subject to such reclamation. Yet both fall within the general category of ownership.

The same applies to a son’s ownership according to Ahmad and other hadith jurists, who followed the meaning of the Book and the explicit teaching of the Sunnah on this matter. Groups among the early generations say: “The property is lawful for the father to take, while belonging to the son.” Thus, for the father, it resembles unowned things that may be acquired by taking possession, while the son’s ownership remains established, allowing him unrestricted disposal of it.

Since ownership takes different forms, with the degrees of unrestricted and restricted disposal that I have described, as well as others I have not described, there is no reason why establishing these rights should not be left to the individual: he may establish those he considers beneficial to himself and refrain from establishing those that offer him no benefit. The Lawgiver prohibits a person only from what entails harm that rebounds upon him or is unmitigated. If something entails no harm, or its harm is outweighed by its benefit, He never prohibits it.