Property is anything that can be possessed, whatever its nature. The means of its possession is the cause, which initiated the ownership of the property to the person in the first place. Exchange, in all its forms, is not considered as one of the means of possessing property. It is a means of possessing commodities through the exchange of a particular commodity of property, where the property was originally in possession, but some of its commodities were exchanged. Investment of property such as the profit from trading, the rental of houses, and the harvest of crops, similarly is not considered as one of the means of possessing property. Though some property has been generated anew by this investment, it was initiated from another property, so investment is from the means of increasing the property, and not the means of possessing the property. The subject at hand is the initial possession of the property, in other words the acquisition of the original property.

The difference between the means of possession and the means of investing already owned property is that possession is the acquisition of the property initially, by acquiring its origin. Whereas investing an owned property is increasing the property that is owned. The property already exists, but is invested and increased. Shar’a put rules pertaining to both the owning of property and the investment of owned property. Contracts such as selling and leasing are rules pertaining to the investment of property, and work such as hunting and silent partnership are rules pertaining to the possession of property. Accordingly, the means of ownership are the means of possessing the original property.Whereas the means of investing the owned property are the means of increasing the property, which was already owned through one of the means of ownership.

In order to possess property there are divine causes, which the Lawgiver has confined to particular means. These causes must not be transgressed. The means of possessing property is therefore limited to what the Shar’a has laid down. The previously mentioned definition of property as a defined rule (Hukm Shar’i) estimated in terms of the asset or benefit, requires that there should be a permission from the Lawgiver in order that possession occurs. In other words, the means permitting possession to occur must exist within Shar’a. If the legal means of ownership exists, ownership of the property exists, and if the legal means of ownership are absent, then the ownership of property does not exist, even if an individual actually possessed it. Ownership is thus possession of property by divine means permitted by the Lawgiver. Shar’a has determined the means of ownership by specific cases which it made clear in a limited, rather than unrestricted form. Shar’a has laid down these means in clear general guidelines. These comprise of numerous sections, which are branches of these means and clarifications of their rules. Shar’a did not characterise the means by certain general criteria, so no other general means can be included through analogy. This is because the renewed needs are only in the generated properties not in the transactions; i.e. it is not in the system that governs the relationship, rather it is in the subject matter of the relationship. Therefore it is necessary to confine transactions to specific cases which apply to the renewed and various needs, and to the property as a property, and to the work as work. This approach determines individual ownership in a manner that agrees with man’s nature and organises this ownership so as to protect the society from the dangers that would result from leaving it unrestricted. The desire to own individual property is an aspect of the survival instinct just as marriage is an aspect of the procreation instinct, and worship rituals are an aspect of the sanctification instinct. If these aspects were left free to be satisfied in any way this would lead to anarchy and disorder and to abnormal or wrong satisfaction. It is necessary, therefore, to define the manner by which man acquires property to prevent a minority of the Ummah from controlling her by means of property, that the majority of people are not deprived of satisfying some of their needs: and that property is not sought for its own sake only, lest man loses the pleasant life, and also to prevent the obtaining of property for the purpose of hoarding. Accordingly, it is necessary to define the means of possession. Through examination of the divine rules (Ahkam Shari’ah) which allow man to possess property, it becomes apparent that the means of possession are limited to five which are:

a. Work.

b. Inheritance.

c. Obtaining of property for the sake of life.

d. The State granting of its properties to the citizens.

e. Properties which the individuals take without exchange of property or work.