—no one may sell it or claim ownership of it. Whoever revives dead land over which neither a Muslim nor a dhimmī (non-Muslim subject) previously held title becomes its lawful owner. No one, however, may bring dead land back to life when it lies near cities or built-up areas without the ruler’s permission; if the tract is remote from towns and villages, it belongs to whoever rehabilitates it, whether or not he has the imam’s authorization.

The true owner of a piece of land is the person who actually develops it: digging springs, cutting canals, planting trees, and carrying out similar improvements. Merely fencing it in or reserving its pasture does not amount to reviving it. Likewise, no one may take over any adjoining plot that already belongs to someone else without that owner’s consent. If a man restores land that its proprietor had abandoned until it lapsed back into its original desolation, the land passes to the one who has revived it the second time.

Muslims and dhimmīs are equal regarding the right to reclaim dead land. There is, however, no entitlement for a dhimmī to settle in the homeland of the Arabs, for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) expressly forbade the coexistence of two religions there.