Factories by their nature are private property. However, they follow the rule of the product that they are producing. If the product is private property then the factory is considered to be private property, such as textile factories. If the product is public property then the factory is considered public property, such as factories for iron ore production.

This article has two parts: Firstly, the origin is that factories are owned by individuals, and secondly, that the factory takes the rule of the product that it produces.

As for the first part, its evidence is that:

. » اصْطَنَعَ خَاتًََا أَنَّ النَّبَِِّ « .

“the Messenger (pbuh) had a ring made for him” reported by Al-Bukhari from ‘Abdullah b. Umar, and:

.» اسْتَصْنَعَ المنِْبَرَ أَنَّهُ « .

“had a pulpit made” as reported by Al-Bukhari from Sahl b. Sa’d Al-Sa’idi, and they were produced by individuals who personally owned the factory. Additionally, people used to have things made for them at the time of the Messenger (pbuh) and he remained quiet over it, to the point that some of them used to make weapons, like Khubab who used to make swords in Jahiliyyah (the era of ignorance before Islam) and continued after he embraced Islam, and his story is mentioned in the Sirah of Ibn Hisham with Al-‘As Bin Wa’il Al-Sahmi when he bought a sword from Khubab. When Khubab came to Al-‘As to confirm the price he joked with him saying: I’ll pay the price for it in Paradise. This indicates that he affirmed individual ownership of factories, irrespective of whether they were weapon, mineral or carpentry factories or anything else. It is not reported that he prohibited the ownership of factories, and there is no text which states that factories are public property, in the same way that there is no text which states that factories belong to the State. Therefore, the evidence that factories can be private property remains general. This is the evidence for the first part. As for the second, its evidence is the rule: