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f:1117 -    What does Shariah say about acquiring other people's land
 Country : India,
Name : Qadeer Sahab
Question:     We see frequently that some people occupy other people’s lands using their own power, etc.  What does the Shariah say about this?
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Answer:     Almighty Allah has granted His slaves lawful and pure sustenance (Rizq) and has commanded them to partake of the pure sustenance that He has granted and to be thankful to Him for it.  It is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

Surah Maida-172

A most basic principle of Islamic economics is that wealth should be gained through lawful means and unlawful means shouldn’t be used at all.  Thus, Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:

Occupying others’ lands and claiming it to be one’s own is a very grave sin.  The Hadith have very strict warnings about this.  There is a Hadith:

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Sa’eed bin Zaid (May Allah be well pleased with him), he says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  The one who has gotten even a hand-breadth’s worth of land through oppression, on the Day of Judgment, that person will be made to wear a yoke of seven lands.  (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, Pg. No. 454, Hadith No. 3198; Sahih Muslim, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 33; Zujaajatul Masabeeh, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 308)

There is another Hadith in both Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

Translation: Hadhrat Saalam narrates on the authority of his father Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar (May Allah be well pleased with them):  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  The person who takes even a small portion of others’ land, on the Day of Judgment, that person will be sunk down through the seven levels of the earth.  (Sahih Bukhari, Vol. 1, Pg. No, 453, Hadith No. 3196; Zujaajatul Masabeeh, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 305)

There is another Hadith in this regard:

Translation: It is narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Ya’ala bin Murrah, he says that I heard the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) say:  The person who acquires someone else’s land unlawfully will be made to carry around all the soil of it on the Day of Judgment.  (Musnad Imam Ahmed, Hadith No. 169113; Zujaajatul Masabeeh, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 309)

It is mentioned in yet another Hadith:

Translation: The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  The person who acquires even a hand-breadth’s worth of land through oppressing others, then Almighty Allah will make that person dig through all the seven levels of the earth.  Then on the Day of Judgment, its yoke will be in that person’s neck until the reckoning of the people is over.  (Musnad Imam Ahmed, Hadith No. 16913; Zujaajatul Masabeeh, Vol. 2, Pg. No. 309)

And Allah The Most Merciful and The Most Beneficent knows best

Mufti Syed Ziauddin Naqshbandi

[Professor, Islamic Law, Jamia Nizamia,
Founder/Director, Abul Hasanaat Islamic Research Center]
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