Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Selling unowned land is not permissible, based on Quran andaccording to Islamic Tradition

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Tuesday, the 24th of Rabi al-Awwal. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Supreme Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudential issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed the illegitimacy of selling unowned lands, and said: The sale of land by a ruler, even if he is a Shariah ruler or an Islamic one, is illegitimate, and he has no right to sell the land to anyone. It is stated in the hadith that the land belongs to God and the one who cultivates and develops it. So even if the ruler sold a piece of land to someone, the buyer does not become the owner of that land unless he cultivates the land and does farming in it, or builds a house on it.

Citing some hadiths and passages of Nahj-ul-Balaghah, his Eminence said: Uthman gave lands to some people during his caliphate. After assuming the caliphate, Amir al-Momineen said: I will take back [to public treasury] all the lands that Uthman gave to others, and he did so.

He further noted that the owner of an unowned land that is empty and desert-like, is firstly God, and secondly is the one who cultivates it, that is, does farming in it, or makes a garden there or builds a house. Under these circumstances, such a person becomes the owner of that land and can sell it. But the ruler does not have the right to sell land to anyone.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi emphasized that the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him and his pure family, and the Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, did not give land to anyone during their rule, because the land belongs to God and then it belongs to the one who cultivates it.