What is the ruling on dividing river water according to *qirats* in Damascus, without requiring the land to be irrigated?
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The questioner : May Allah reward you, O honorable Shaykh. It was mentioned in the hadith of al-Zubayr regarding the story of the irrigation channel of al-Harra that he and a man from the Ansar disputed over the irrigation of their lands.
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled in favor of al-Zubayr that he should take the water until his land is saturated, until the water rises to the walls. And what exists with us, O honorable Shaykh, in the waters of "the Barada River" in Damascus is that it is divided not according to this system, but according to *qirats*. A person who wants to irrigate his land registers a specific number of *qirats* of land and then irrigates it.
And it does not mean that it is required for the land to be saturated or not saturated, meaning it is divided among others. So is this division that they follow valid?
The Shaykh : By Allah, my brother, I am not a scholar in Syria to clarify whether it is valid and remains, or defective and is abolished. This is referred back to the scholars there.
You have now learned the Sunnah, so ask the scholars whether this agrees with the Sunnah or contradicts it?
So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled in favor of al-Zubayr that he should take the water until his land is saturated, until the water rises to the walls. And what exists with us, O honorable Shaykh, in the waters of "the Barada River" in Damascus is that it is divided not according to this system, but according to *qirats*. A person who wants to irrigate his land registers a specific number of *qirats* of land and then irrigates it.
And it does not mean that it is required for the land to be saturated or not saturated, meaning it is divided among others. So is this division that they follow valid?
The Shaykh : By Allah, my brother, I am not a scholar in Syria to clarify whether it is valid and remains, or defective and is abolished. This is referred back to the scholars there.
You have now learned the Sunnah, so ask the scholars whether this agrees with the Sunnah or contradicts it?