Mawat yerlar — egasi bo‘lmagan, hech kim undan foyda olmaydigan yerdir. Uni obod qilish — unga ekin ekish, daraxt o‘tkazish yoki unda qurilish qurish demakdir. Boshqacha aytganda, uni obodlashtirish (ihya) ma’nosini beradigan har qanday shaklda foydalanishdir. Kishi yerni obod qilsa, u yer uning mulkiga aylanadi. Allohning Elchisi ﷺ aytdilar: “Kim o‘lik yerni obod qilsa, u o‘shaniki bo‘ladi.” Shuningdek, ﷺ aytdilar: “Kim yerni devor bilan o‘rab olsa, u o‘shaniki bo‘ladi.” Va ﷺ aytdilar: “Kim boshqa musulmondan oldin biror narsaga qo‘lini yetkazsa, o‘shaniki bo‘ladi.” Bu masalada musulmon bilan zimmiy (Islom davlatining g‘ayridin fuqarosi) o‘rtasida farq yo‘q, chunki hadislar shartsiz, mutlaq ifodalangan va zimmiy vodiylardan, o‘rmonlar va tog‘ cho‘qqilaridan olgan narsasi uning mulki hisoblanadi hamda uni undan tortib olish joiz emas. Xuddi shunday, o‘lik yer ham uning mulki bo‘lishi to‘g‘ri keladi. Bu hukm har bir yerda umumiydir — Dor ul-Islomda bo‘lsin, Dor ul-Harbda bo‘lsin, ‘ushriy yoki xarojiy yer bo‘lsin. Biroq mulkka ega bo‘lishning sharti shuki, yerni egallagandan keyin uch yil ichida unda ish olib borish va undan foydalanib, obodonchilikni davom ettirish kerak. Agar kishi egallagan dastlabki uch yil ichida yerdan umuman foydalanmasa yoki keyinchalik uch yil ketma-ket unga e’tiborsiz qarasa, u yerga bo‘lgan egalik huquqini yo‘qotadi. ’Umar ibn al-Xattob aytdilar: “Yerni o‘rab olgan kishining uch yildan keyin unda hech qanday haqqi yo‘q.” ’Umar bu so‘zni aytdilar va sahobalar huzurida uni amalga oshirdilar, ular esa e’tiroz bildirmadilar, bu esa ularning ijmosini (kelishuvini) tasdiqlaydi.

Barren land (Mawat) is land, which has no owner, and nobody benefits from it. Its cultivation means planting on it, afforestation or building upon it. In other words using it in any form that means cultivation (Ihya). The cultivation of land by a person makes it his property. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Whoever cultivated a dead land, it becomes his.” He (pbuh) also said: “Whoever encircled a land by a fence it becomes his.” And He (pbuh) said: “Whoever gets his hand over something ahead of any other Muslim, it is his.” There is no difference in this matter between the Muslim and the dhimmi (non-Muslim citizen of the Islamic State), because the Ahadith are absolute in their form without restriction, and because what the Dhimmi takes from inside the valleys, forests and the tops of the mountains is his property, and it is not allowed to be taken away from him. It is just as appropriate for the dead land to be his property. This is general in every land, whether it is Dar ul-Islam or Dar ul- Harb, and whether it was ‘Ushri or Kharaji land. However, the condition of possession is to work upon the land within three years of taking possession of it, and to continue this cultivation by using the land. If someone did not use it at all during the first three years of his possession, or if He neglected it for three continuous years later on, then He would lose his right of its ownership. ’Umar ibn Al-Khattab said: “The one who circles a land has no right in it after three years.” ’Umar made this Statement and enforced it in the presence of the Sahabah, who made no objection, confirming their Ijma’a (consensus).