There are three categories of Public Ownership:

a. Public utilities, such as the open spaces in the towns.

b. Vast mineral resources, like oil fields.

c. Things which, by their nature, preclude ownership by individuals, such as rivers.

The evidence of the article is the evidence for article 129, and so the evidence for clause: “c” is the affirmation of the Messenger (pbuh) upon the people sharing the ownership of the public pathways, and his words:

.» مِنًً مُنَاخُ مَنْ سَبَقَ « .

“Mina is a resting place for whoever arrives first” reported by Al-Tirmidhi from Aisha(ra), and he said it is Hasan Sahih, and Ibn Khuzaymah who authenticated it; in other words, Mina, which is the famous place in the Peninsula, is a public property for all the people. So whoever gets there first and rests there, they have the right to it.

As for clause: “b”, its evidence is what was reported from ‘Amru b. Qays from his father from Abyad bin Hammal who said:

. مَعْدِنَ الملِْحِ بَِِأْرِبَ فَأَقْطَعَنِيهُ، فَقِيلَ: يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، إِنَّهُ اسْتَقْطَعْتُ رَسُ ولَ اللهِ « » فَلاَ إِذَنْ :بَِِنْزِلَةِ الْمَاءِ الْعَدِّ -يعنِ أنه لا ينقطع- فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ .

“I asked the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to assign me a salt laden land as a fief and so he granted it to me. It was said: O Messenger of Allah (pbuh) , it is comparable to a countless water – in other words, it does not deplete – and so the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “In such a case: no”” (reported by Al-Nasa’i), and the groundwater is that which is not depleted, and so the salt laden land was compared to the groundwater which is not depleted. The intention here is not the salt but rather the minerals, the evidence being that when he knew that it was non-depleting he prohibited it, though he initially knew that it was salt, and granted the land initially, and so the prohibition is due to it being a vast mineral resource. Abu ‘Ubayd said: