Selling land that does not belong to the seller
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The first question of Fatwa No. ( 2885 )
Q1: One day, two years ago, I encountered a group of people who were holding land. They told me that it was not owned by them. I took a plot of land for myself and divided it into several pieces. I also informed some people from the group, so they took land for themselves. After a few days, buying and selling began in the aforementioned land. I then sold all the pieces I had. My method of sale was: I would write a deed for the buyer, stating the area of the land and the price, and I would state in the deed that I would protect him from anyone except the owner of the title deed or the government. He would buy on this basis. After a while, the municipality came and removed all the buildings and boxes that were on the land, and evicted the residents. According to what I heard from people, the land belongs to the municipality. As for the people who bought from me, I do not know them at present, and none of them have come to me, and none of them have asked for their money. I ask you to inform me about the amount I received from the land, which is approximately six thousand riyals. Is it forbidden or lawful? What should I do with it?
A1: Your sale of the land you mentioned is not permissible and is not valid;
because you did not own it, you were not authorized to sell it, and no one with the authority to dispose of it ratified your sale contract after you sold it. You must return the price you received to the person you sold it to, whether it was a small amount or a large one.
Q1: One day, two years ago, I encountered a group of people who were holding land. They told me that it was not owned by them. I took a plot of land for myself and divided it into several pieces. I also informed some people from the group, so they took land for themselves. After a few days, buying and selling began in the aforementioned land. I then sold all the pieces I had. My method of sale was: I would write a deed for the buyer, stating the area of the land and the price, and I would state in the deed that I would protect him from anyone except the owner of the title deed or the government. He would buy on this basis. After a while, the municipality came and removed all the buildings and boxes that were on the land, and evicted the residents. According to what I heard from people, the land belongs to the municipality. As for the people who bought from me, I do not know them at present, and none of them have come to me, and none of them have asked for their money. I ask you to inform me about the amount I received from the land, which is approximately six thousand riyals. Is it forbidden or lawful? What should I do with it?
A1: Your sale of the land you mentioned is not permissible and is not valid;
because you did not own it, you were not authorized to sell it, and no one with the authority to dispose of it ratified your sale contract after you sold it. You must return the price you received to the person you sold it to, whether it was a small amount or a large one.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.