(1) Tithes or Zakāt on lands.—Upon every thing produced from the ground there is due a tenth, or ʿāshir, ʿushr (Heb. מַעֲשֵׂר), whether the soil be watered by the annual overflow of great rivers, or by periodical rains; excepting upon articles of wood, bamboos, and grass, which are not subject to tithe. Land watered by means of buckets or machinery, such as Persian wheels, or by watering camels, are subject to only half tithes. (Hidāyah, vol. i. p. 44.)
(2) Conquered lands become the property of the state. Those of idolaters remain so. Those belonging to Jews, Christians, or Fire worshippers, are secured to the owners on payment of tribute. Those who afterwards embrace Islām recover their property, according to ash-Shāfiʿī, but not according to the Ḥanīfah school. Upon the Muslim army evacuating an enemy’s country, it becomes unlawful for the troops to feed their cattle on the land without due payment. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 170.)
(3) Appropriation for religious uses.—Land may be so appropriated; but if a person appropriate land for such a purpose and it should afterwards be discovered that an indefinite portion of it was the property of another person, the appropriation is void with respect to the remainder also. The appropriation must also be of a perpetual and not of a temporary nature. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. p. 340.)
(4) The sale of land is lawful. In such sales the trees upon the land are included in the sale, whether specified or not; but neither the grain growing on the ground, nor the fruit growing on the trees, are included, unless specified. But in the case of the fruit or corn being purchased with the land, it must be gathered or cleared away at once. In the sale of ground, the seed sown in the ground is not included. Land may be resold previous to seizing or possession, by the first purchaser, according to Abū Ḥanīfah, but the Imām Muḥammad says it is unlawful. Wells and watercourses are not included in the sale of lands unless specified. (Hidāyah, vol. ii. pp. 372, 481, 503.)
(5) Claims against land must be made by the plaintiff, defining the four boundaries and specifying the names of each possessor, and the demand for the land must be made in explicit terms. And if the land has been resold, a decree must be given either for or against the last possessor, according to some doctors. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 65.)
(6) Land can be lent, and the borrower can build upon it, but when the lender receives back his land, he can compel the borrower to remove his houses and trees. Land lent for tillage cannot be resumed by the lender until the crops sown have been reaped. Abū Ḥanīfah maintains that when land is lent to another, the contract should be in these words, “You have given me to eat of this land.” (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 284, 288.)
(7) A gift of land which is uncultivated cannot be retracted after houses have been built on it or trees planted. If the donee sell half of the granted land, the donor in that case may, if he wishes, resume the other half. If a person make a gift of land to his relative within the prohibited degrees it is not lawful for him to resume it. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 302.)
(8) The Ijārah, or rental of land, is lawful, but the period must be specified, otherwise the rent may be demanded from day to day. But a lease of land is not lawful unless mention is made of the article to be raised upon it, and at the expiration of the lease the land must be restored in its original state. A hirer of land is not responsible for accidents; for example, if in burning off the stubble he happen to burn other property, he is not responsible for loss incurred. (Hidāyah, vol. iii. p. 314, &c.)
(9) The cultivation of waste and unclaimed lands is lawful, when it is done with the permission of the ruler of the country, and the act of cultivation invests the cultivator with a right of property in them. But if the land be not cultivated for three years after it has been allotted, it may again be claimed by the state. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 128.)
(10) If a person be slain on lands belonging to anyone, and situated near a village, and the proprietor of the land be not an inhabitant of the village, he is responsible for the murder, as the regulation and protection of those lands rest upon him. (Hidāyah, vol. iv. p. 447.)