Granting land (iqta)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna al-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he came to Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted me the territory of Bahrain as a land grant." At that Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Who bears witness to this in your favour?" He said: "Sayyiduna al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him)." Then he narrated the complete hadith; and there is a break (inqita') in the chain of this report.

It is narrated from Salamah al-Hudhali that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent a letter to Sayyiduna Qays bin Malik al-Arhabi (may Allah be pleased with him), the text of which was: 'Bismika Allahumma' (In Your name, O Allah, I begin); from Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), to Qays bin Malik: 'Salamun alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu wa maghfiratuh' (Peace be upon you, and the mercy of Allah, His blessings and His forgiveness). To proceed: I have appointed you governor over your people, their Arabs and non-Arabs, their freed slaves, the people of their settled populations and those living in their outlying areas. And I grant you as a land grant two hundred sa' of the millet (grain) of Yasar and two hundred sa' of the raisins of Khaywan, which is lawful and permitted for you and for your descendants after you forever, forever and forever. Sayyiduna Qays (may Allah be pleased with him) said that the Messenger of Allah's (peace and blessings be upon him) use of the word "forever" three times in his words is dearer to me (than wealth), for I have strong hope that by its blessing my descendants will remain as long as the world lasts. Yahya said that by the word 'their Arabs' is meant the desert-dwelling Bedouins, and by 'their populace' (jumhurihim) is meant the inhabitants of towns and villages. I (Ibn Hajar) say that this hadith is munkar (denounced), and the most objectionable and munkar thing in its chain and text is the writing of 'Bismika Allahumma' (In Your name, O Allah) at the beginning of the letter.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Razin bin Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "When Islam became dominant, we owned a well, and I feared that the people around us might seize it by force. So I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) had a document written for me: "From Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). To proceed: If this man is truthful (in his claim), then their well belongs to them, and if he is truthful, their house also belongs to them." Sayyiduna Razin (may Allah be pleased with him) said that whichever of the judges of Madinah we took this order to, he decided in our favour according to it. The narrator says that in this document the word 'kana' was spelled as 'kawuna'. This is a gharib (singular) hadith in whose narration a narrator named Fahd is alone, and Imam al-Fallas (may Allah have mercy on him) declared him "matruk" (abandoned). Imam al-Tabarani narrated this hadith with a high (short) chain by way of Ali bin Abd al-Aziz from Fahd, and Imam Ibn Mandah also transmitted it by way of Abd al-Rahman bin Yahya from Abu Mas'ud al-Razi, who narrated it from Fahd. Imam al-Tabari and other hadith scholars narrated it by way of Muhammad bin Humayd, from Na'il bin Mutarrif bin al-Abbas, from his father, from his grandfather, that he said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for a well as a land grant" (and he mentioned the complete hadith); Allah knows best which of the two is correct. Imam Ibn Mandah said that Yahya bin Yunus al-Shirazi narrated it from Abd al-Salam bin Umar al-Husayni, from Na'il bin Abd al-Rahman bin Abdullah bin Hazm bin Anas bin Amir al-Aslami, from his father, from Lubabah: "This document was written by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for Sayyiduna Razin bin Anas (may Allah be pleased with him)."

It is narrated from Abidah (may Allah have mercy on him) that Sayyiduna Uyaynah bin Hisn (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna al-Aqra' bin Habis (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "O Caliph of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! We have a barren, salty piece of land on which no pasture grows and which is of no benefit; if you see fit, grant it to us as a land grant." The narrator says that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) allotted that land in their names and wrote a document in their favour. Then he mentioned the rest of the hadith, and this report is found in the Book of Leadership (al-Imarah), in the chapter "The Ministers".

Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) appointed Sayyiduna Hudhayfah bin al-Yaman (may Allah be pleased with him) as judge (for the survey and administration of the lands of Iraq) and sent him a letter containing ten instructions. The narrator's father (who of all people had the most knowledge about the lands of Iraq) said: I remembered six of them and forgot four: "Set apart (as state land) only those lands which belonged to Chosroes or his household, or to those who were killed on the battlefield, or where the postal stations and the prisons were built, and where the places of water drainage or the dense forests and thickets were located."