Public property is the permission of the Lawgiver to the community to share the use of the asset. Assets which are public property are those which the Lawgiver stated that as belonging to the community as a whole, and those which He prevented the individual from possessing any of them singularly. This is categorised in three types:

1. That which is considered a public utility, so that a town or a community would disperse in search for it if it were not available.

2. The uncountable stores of minerals.

3. Things which, by their nature, would prevent the individual from possession.

With regard to the public utilities, they are everything that is generally considered as a utility by the people. The Prophet (pbuh) explained them in the Ahadith by their description rather than by enumerating them. Ibn ‘Abbas narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Muslims are partners (associates) in three things: in water, pastures and fire,” reported by Abu Dawud. Anas narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas adding, “and its price is Haram (forbidden).” Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Hurairah (ra) that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Three things are not prevented from (the people); the water, the pastures and the fire.” This is an evidence that people are partners (associates) in water, pastures and fire, and that the individual is prohibited from possessing them. But it is noticed that the Hadith mentioned them as three, and they are Jamid (non-derived) names, and there was no mentioning of Illah (reason) in the Hadith. The Hadith did not include Illah (reason), and this could imply that these three things are the only ones which represent public property with no consideration given to their depiction for the community’s need for them. However, if one scrutinised the issue He would find that the Prophet (pbuh) allowed the possession of water in At-Taif and Khaybar by individuals, and they actually possessed it for the purpose of irrigating their plants and farms. Had the sharing (association) of water been just because it is water and not because of the consideration of the community’s need for it, then He would not have allowed individuals to possess it. So from the saying of the Prophet (pbuh), “Muslims are partners (associates) in three things: in water, pastures and fire” and from his permission to individuals to possess the water, it can be deduced that the Illah (reason) of partnership in the water, pastures and fire, is their being of the community utilities that are indispensable to the community. So the Hadith mentioned the three (things) but they are reasoned as being community utilities. Therefore this Illah (reason) goes along with the reasoned (rule) in existence and in absence. So anything that qualifies as being of the community utilities is considered a public property, whether or not it was water, pasture or fire i.e. whether it was specifically mentioned in the Hadith or not. If it ceased to be of the community utilities, even if it was mentioned in the Hadith like the water it would not be a community utility, it would rather be of the things which can be possessed individually. The criteria for determining things to be a public utility is that it is anything which, if not available to the community, whether the community was a group of bedouins a village, city, or a State, would cause them to disperse in search of it, then it would be considered of the community utilities, like the water sources, forests of firewood, pastures of livestock and the like.

With regards to minerals, they are of two kinds: one is of a limited quantity that is not considered significant. The other is of an uncountable quantity. As for the first type it can be an individual property, owned singularly and treated like the hidden treasure (Rikaz) where a fifth of it is paid to the Bait ul-Mal. Amr ibn Shua’ib narrated from his father, from his grandfather that the Prophet (pbuh) was asked about the Luqatah (article picked from the road) He said: “That which was picked from the publicly used road, or the village, you have to announce it for one year, if anyone demands it, give it to him, and if not, it would be yours; but if it is found in sites of ruin, then a fifth of it and of the hidden treasure (Rikaz) has to be paid to the Bait ul- Mal”, narrated by Abu Dawud.

As for the uncountable quantity which cannot be normally depleted, it is a public property and should not be possessed individually due to what At-Tirmidhi narrated from Abyadh ibn Hammal that He came to the Prophet (pbuh) and asked Him to grant Him a salt laden land, and He granted it to him. And when He left, one person in attendance with the Prophet (pbuh) said, “Do you know what you granted him? You granted Him the uncountable water (Al-‘udd)”. He (pbuh) then took it away from him.” He compared it (in this Hadith) with the uncountable (Al-‘Udd) water because it does not deplete. So this Hadith indicates that the Prophet (pbuh) granted the salty mountain to Abyadh ibn Hammal, which means that it is allowed to grant a salt mine. However, when He realised that it was of the permanent or continuous mines which are nondepletable, He reversed his grant and took it back thereby prohibiting its ownership by individuals as it is a public property. What is meant here is not the salt, but rather the salt mine. The evidence for this is that when He knew it was non-depletable He prohibited its private ownership, despite the fact that He knew it was salt and that He had initially granted it. So its prohibition was due to its being non-depletable. Abu Ubayd said, “With regards to his (i.e. the Prophet) granting to Abyadh ibn Hammal of the salt (found) in Ma’reb, then taking it away from him, He did it considering it as a dead (unused) land which Abyadh was going to revive and cultivate. When the Prophet (pbuh) realised it included uncountable (‘Udd) water, which contains non-depletable material like the water of the springs and wells, He revoked it, because it is the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) in relation to pasture, fire and water, for which people are all associates in possession. So He disliked the limiting of possession to one person to the exclusion of others.” Since salt was of the minerals, the Prophet (pbuh) change of mind about its granting to Abyadh is considered a reason (Illah) for the prohibition of its ownership by individuals, i.e. that it is an uncountable (‘Udd) mineral mine, not because it comprised uncountable (‘udd) salt. It appears from examining this Hadith that the reason (Illah) for preventing the grant of the salt mineral mine is because it was uncountable (‘Udd) i.e. not depleted. It appears from the narration of Amr ibn Qais that the salt in this incident is a mineral (mine) because He said, “the mine (mineral) of salt”. It appears from the words of the jurisprudents, that they considered the salt of the minerals, so the Hadith would be related to minerals and not to salt specifically.

With regards to Abu Dawud’s narration that the Prophet (pbuh) granted Bilal ibn Al-Harith Al Muzni the minerals (mines) of the Qabaliah; and also what Abu Ubaid’s narrated in his book (Al Amwal) from Ikrimah that He said: “The Prophet (pbuh) granted Bilal such a land from such a place to such a place, and that which existed in it of mountains or minerals”, this Hadith does not contradict the Hadith of Abyadh. This Hadith is rather to interpret that these minerals which the Prophet (pbuh) granted to Bilal were limited, and thus allowed to be granted, as the Prophet (pbuh) did when He first granted the salt mineral to Abaydh. This Hadith should not be interpreted as a permission to grant such minerals in absolute terms, because it would then contradict with what the Prophet (pbuh) did when He took back the minerals which He granted when He realised it was uncountable (‘Udd), and not normally depleted. So the minerals which the Prophet (pbuh) granted are to be interpreted as being limited and they (easily) deplete.

This rule, that the uncountable and undepleted minerals are considered a public property, includes all minerals, whether they on the surface of the earth where people may reach and use them without great effort, such as salt, coal, sapphire, ruby, and the like. Or whether they were of the subsurface minerals, which are reachable only with work, like the minerals of gold, silver, iron, copper, lead and the like. And also whether they are solid like crystal, or fluid like oil. All of them are minerals, which are included within the meaning of the Hadith.

As for the things whose nature prevents them from coming under the domain of individual ownership, they are the assets which consist of the public utilities. Although they fall within the first category because they are from the community utilities, they differ however from it in respect of their nature which prevents them from being possessed by individuals. Water, for example, could be possessed by individuals, but this is prohibited if the community cannot manage to live without it, unlike the case with roads which certainly cannot be owned by any individual. Therefore, although the evidence for this category is that the divine reason (Illah) is applicable to it and that it is from the community utilities, however its nature indicates that it belongs to the public property. This category includes roads, rivers, seas, lakes, public canals, gulfs, straits and the like. Also included are things like Masjid, State schools, hospitals, playgrounds, shelters etc.