913 - Issue; Abu al-Qasim said: (And whoever revives land that was not owned, it belongs to him).

The collective total [of this issue] is that dead land (mawat) is of two categories. The first is what has not been subjected to the ownership of anyone and in which no trace of cultivation is found; this is owned through revival (1) without disagreement among those who uphold [the legality of] revival, and the reports we have narrated encompass it. The second category is what has been subjected to the ownership of an owner, and it is of three types. The first is that which has a specific owner, and this is of two sorts. The first is that which was owned by purchase or gift; this is not owned through revival, without disagreement. Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: The scholars have reached a consensus that what is known to be the property of an owner (2) which has not ceased is not permitted to be revived by anyone other than its proprietors. The second is that which was owned through revival, then abandoned until it perished (3) and returned to being dead land; it is exactly like the one preceding it. Malik said: This is owned, due to the generality of his saying: "Whoever revives dead land, it belongs to him" (4). Also, because the origin of this land is permissible (mubah), so when it is abandoned (5) until it becomes dead land, it returns to being permissible, like one who takes water from a river and then returns it to it. Our evidence is that this is land whose owner is known, so it is not owned through revival, just like that which was owned by purchase or gift. The report is restricted to non-owned land by his saying in the other narration: "Whoever revives dead land that belongs to no one," and his saying: "in that which is not the right of a Muslim." This necessitates restricting the absolute [nature] of his hadith. Hisham ibn 'Urwah said, in interpreting his statement (peace be upon him): "And there is no right for an unjust root (6)": The unjust root is for a man to come to the dead land of someone else and plant in it. Sa'id ibn Mansur mentioned this in his Sunan. Then, the hadith is specified [as excluding] what was owned by purchase or gift.