And al-Khallal, with their chain of narration from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: "The protected perimeter of a newly-dug well (al-badi') is twenty-five cubits, and the protected perimeter of an ancient well (al-'adi) is fifty cubits." This is a definitive text (nass). Abu 'Ubayd (9) narrated, with his chain of narration from Yahya ibn Sa'id al-Ansari, that he said: The Sunnah regarding the protected perimeter of an ancient well is fifty cubits, and for a newly-dug one it is twenty-five cubits. With his chain of narration (9) from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, he said: The protected perimeter of a newly-dug well is twenty-five cubits from all its sides, the protected perimeter of a cultivation well is three hundred cubits from all its sides, and the protected perimeter of an ancient well is fifty cubits from all its sides. This is because it is a means by which barren land is owned, so it is not restricted to the measure of necessity, like an enclosure wall. Furthermore, the need for a well is not limited to raising water; for one needs the area around it as a resting place for his camels, a standing place for his beasts and sheep, a place to set up troughs from which he waters his livestock, a standing place for the animal he uses for drawing water (10), and similar things. Thus, the protected perimeter is not restricted to what is needed (11) for raising water. As for the hadith of Abu Hanifa, our hadith is more authentic than it, and Abu Hurayra narrated both of them, which indicates its weakness. Once this is established, the apparent meaning of the words of al-Khiraqi is that this protected perimeter is owned by the owner of the well. According to al-Shafi'i and al-Qadi, it is not owned. This has been previously mentioned.

Section: It is necessary that the well contains water. If it has not reached water, it is like the one who marks the boundaries of land (mutahajjir) and begins its reclamation, according to what we have previously established. It is necessary that his statement regarding the ancient well be understood as referring to a well that had become filled in and its water lost, then he restored its digging and maintenance, or its water was cut off and he extracted it, so that this constitutes bringing it to life. As for a well that has water from which the Muslims benefit, no one has the right to enclose it and prevent them from it; for it is like the apparent mineral deposits (ma'adin zahira) from which people benefit, and likewise are natural springs (al-'uyun al-nabita); no one has the right to claim them exclusively. And if a man digs a well for the Muslims