The properties belong to their owners unless they are gifted
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Question: We are four orphans, and we have three uncles, all of whom are alive and well. Two of them are not present in the country, and the eldest of them is present. He has taken and seized all the property of his two absent brothers, including lands and other assets, and he does not give us anything from it. We are the sons of their youngest brother, four orphans, and we have reached maturity. He has refused to give us anything from our uncles' property on the grounds that he is their brother. Do we have the right, according to the Shari'ah, to demand that he give us a portion of our uncles' lands, or not? And does he have the right to dispose of them?
Answer: The properties of your absent uncles, as long as they are alive, belong to them. They have not transferred out of their ownership. Your uncle has no right to them, and you also have no right to them, because they are the property of their owners, unless they have gifted them to their brother, or
permitted him to benefit from them. In that case, there is no harm in it. If they gifted them to him, it becomes a gift. If they permitted him to benefit from their produce, he may do so. He is not obligated to give you anything unless the owners of the lands have gifted you a portion of them, or a portion of their produce. If they have not gifted you anything, nor any of their produce, then you have no right to them.
The result: The properties remain the property of their owners, even if they are absent. The brother who is present among them has no right to take possession of them except with their permission. Likewise, he has no right to exploit them except with their permission. What they have permitted him to do, he may do. What they have not permitted, remains their property.
Answer: The properties of your absent uncles, as long as they are alive, belong to them. They have not transferred out of their ownership. Your uncle has no right to them, and you also have no right to them, because they are the property of their owners, unless they have gifted them to their brother, or
permitted him to benefit from them. In that case, there is no harm in it. If they gifted them to him, it becomes a gift. If they permitted him to benefit from their produce, he may do so. He is not obligated to give you anything unless the owners of the lands have gifted you a portion of them, or a portion of their produce. If they have not gifted you anything, nor any of their produce, then you have no right to them.
The result: The properties remain the property of their owners, even if they are absent. The brother who is present among them has no right to take possession of them except with their permission. Likewise, he has no right to exploit them except with their permission. What they have permitted him to do, he may do. What they have not permitted, remains their property.