large, permissible river; until the digging connects to it, he does not own it, as it is merely a reservation and a commencement of revival. Once the digging is connected, the revival is completed and he owns it, because ownership by way of revival occurs when the development reaches its intended state, such that the utilization of it is repeated in its form, and this is the case here. It makes no difference whether he runs water through it or not, because revival is achieved by preparing it for utilization, even without the actual benefit being realized. Thus, he becomes the owner of the riverbed and its banks, and the air space above it is his right, as is its harim (inviolable zone), which is the place where mud is deposited on every side. According to the Qadi, this is not owned by the owner of the river; it is merely a right among the rights of ownership, similar to the harim of a well. This is the school of al-Shafi'i. The apparent position of al-Khiraqi is that it is owned by its owner, due to the saying of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him: "Whoever revives dead land that is not owned, it is his." (75) Its revival consists of enclosing it with a wall or digging a well within it, in which case he is entitled to twenty-five cubits around it, and the harim of a river must be likewise.

Once this is established, if the river belongs to a group, it is shared between them according to their work and expenditure, because it is only owned by virtue of development, and development is [achieved] by expenditure. If it suffices for all of them, there is no dispute. If it does not suffice them and they agree to divide it by rotation (muhay'ah) or otherwise, it is permissible, because it is their right and does not exit their possession. If they quarrel over its division, the judge shall divide it between them in proportion to their ownership, because each of them owns a portion of the river according to that [proportion]. A piece of hard wood, or a stone with level edges and center, is placed at a level spot on the ground at the head of the water. It has notches or holes equal in width according to their rights, from which each portion or hole leads to an individual canal for each of them. Once the water enters his canal, he has exclusive use of it. If their holdings are different, it is divided according to that. If one of them holds half, another one-third, and the third (76) one-sixth, six holes are made in it; the owner of the half gets three [which pour into his canal, the owner of the third gets two, and the owner of the sixth gets one] (77). If one person holds two-fifths and the remainder is for two others who are equal in it, it is made...