The State is allowed to protect some of the dead land and any part of public property for any public interest.

The evidence is the report that the Prophet said:

.» لا حَِِى إِلاَّ للهِ وَلِرَسُولِهِ « .

“There is no Hima (for grazing the animals of Zakah) except for Allah (swt) and His Messenger (pbuh).” reported by Al-Bukhari from Al-Sa’ab Bin Jathama, and the protection is to protect something that was for the general Muslims which then prevents the people from it, and to take it for themselves and so the Messenger (pbuh) prohibited that, or in other words, he forbade it. Therefore, it is not permitted for any person to do it including the Khalifah for himself, because he cannot permit what Allah (swt) forbade. From this understanding, it is prohibited for the State to give ownership to someone for anything that is part of public property, which would lead to the prevention of others benefiting from it. As for the State itself, in other words, the Khalifah, it is permitted for him to take something from the dead land and public property for the sake of the interests of the Muslims, and not his own, and the evidence for this is what was reported from Ibn Umar who said:

. » النَّقِيعَ لخَِيْلِ الْمُسْلِمِيَ حََِى النَّ بِ « .

“The Prophet protected (made it Hima) Al-Naqi’ for Muslims’ horses.” (reported by Ibn Hibban), and Al-Naqi’ is the place where the water settles and so there are a lot of plants due to the water; in other words, it is a fertile place for grazing. And it is reported from Abu ‘Ubayd from Amir b. ‘Abd Allah (swt) b. Al-Zubayr, I consider it to be from his father, who said:

. أَتَى أَعْرَابِِ عُمَرَ فَقَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِيَ، بِلادُنَا قَاتَلْنَا عَ لَيْهَا فِي الجَّاهِلِيَّةِ، وَأَسْلَمْنَا « عَلَيْهَا فِي الإِسْلاَمِ، عَلامَ تََْمِيهَا؟ قَالَ: فَأَطْرَقَ عُمَرُ، وَجَعَلَ ينَْفُخُ وَيفَْتُلُ شَارِبَهُ، وَكَانَ إِذَا كرِبَهُ أَمْرٌ فَتَلَ شَارِبَهُ وَنفََخَ، فَلَمَّا رَأَى الأَعْرَا بِ مَا بِهِ جَعَ لَ يرَُدِّدُ ذَلِكَ عَلَيْهِ، فَقَالَ عُمَرُ: الْمَالُ مَالُ اللهِ، وَالْعِبَادُ عِبَادُ اللهِ، واللهِ لَوْلاَ مَا أَحِِْلُ عَلَيْهِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ مَا حََِيْتُ مِنَ الأَرْضِ شِبْْاً فِي » شِبٍْْ .

“A Bedouin came to Omar and said: O Amir of the believers, we fought on our land in Jahiliyyah, and we became Muslims while it is still under our possession, – Why are you protecting it (make it Hima)? Umar bowed his head, blew and twisted his moustache – would do so when distressed – so when the Bedouin saw what he was doing, he repeated what he said again. Then Umar said: The property is Allah (swt)’s property, and the slaves are Allah (swt)’s; I swear by Allah (swt)- had I not been charged with that in the cause of Allah (swt), would I not have protected (made Hima) a hand-span of land”. The narration is explicit in the permissibility of the State protecting; in other words, it is permitted for the State to do something specific with what falls under public property such as the grazing pastures in order to fulfil the interests of the Muslims, and the companions after the Messenger (pbuh) used to do the same, and so it has become a normal practice for every Khalifah.