206 – ʿĀʾishah reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Whoever wrongfully takes even a handspan of land will have it placed as a collar round his neck from seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.” Agreed upon.

207 – Abū Mūsā reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah may grant the wrongdoer long reprieve, but once He seizes him He never lets him go.” He then recited: “Such is the seizing of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong” (Hūd 11:102). Agreed upon.

Explanation
The compiler—may Allah have mercy on him—quotes the hadith of ʿĀʾishah in which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, states: “Whoever wrongfully takes even a handspan of land will have it placed as a collar round his neck from seven earths on the Day of Resurrection.” This narration addresses a specific form of injustice: usurping land.

Seizing land unjustly is among the gravest of major sins, for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, “cursed the one who alters the landmarks of the land.” Scholars explain that manār al-arḍ refers to the boundary markers, the term deriving from manār (a signpost or marker). Thus, if someone shifts these boundaries and incorporates part of another’s property into his own, he is cursed by the tongue of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. A curse (laʿnah) means expulsion and removal from Allah’s mercy.

There is yet another punishment, the one mentioned in this very hadith: should a person usurp even a handspan