Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Ownership of Land Belongs Only to God and Those Who Cultivate It
The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Sadiq Hosseini Shirazi was held on Monday, the first of Jumada al-Awwal. In this meeting, as in previous sessions, the Supreme Marja answered the questions of attendees regarding various jurisprudential issues.
Grand Ayatollah Shirazi emphasized regarding land ownership that selling land without a legal owner or without cultivation is not permissible.
His Eminence stated based on the noble hadith, “The land belongs to God and to whoever cultivates it,” that only God and those who cultivate the land have the right to ownership. Even if a legal ruler grants land to someone, that person will only become the owner if they cultivate the land by farming or building a house or garden.
He stressed the necessity of permission from the infallible Imam or a qualified jurist for the appropriation of public properties (i.e., land without an owner) and stated that it is not permissible to forcibly take and confiscate land from someone who has cultivated it.
