Sharh as-sunna tells of the Prophet assigning to ‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud the open spaces in Medina between the dwellings and palm gardens of the Ansar, and when the B. 'Abd b. Zuhra said, “Remove from us the son of Umm ‘Abd,” (His mother was Umm 'Abd daughter of al-Harith b. Zuhra b. Kitab) replying, “Why then did God send me? God does not bless a people among whom a weak man is not given his right.”
Tawus, in mursal form, reported God's Messenger as saying, “If anyone cultivates barren land it belongs to him, but ancient property belongs to God and His Messenger and then comes to you from me.”
‘Amr b. Shu'aib, on his father’s authority, said his grandfather told that God’s Messenger decided regarding the stream al-Mahzur* that its water should be held back till it reached the ankles and that the upper waters should then be allowed to flow to the lower.
Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah transmitted it.
* Taj al-'arus quotes Ibn al-Athir as saying this was the wadi of the B. Quraizah, and that water flowed in it only when rain fell.
Asmar b. Mudarris told that when he came and swore allegiance to the Prophet he said, “If anyone comes to water, no Muslim having come to it before him, it belongs to him.”
