Usurpation: Restoring Ownership of Long-Usurped Property After State Seizure

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Usurpation: Restoring Ownership of Long-Usurped Property After State Seizure

English:

Question #1869:

Some property was in the hands of the heirs for generations on end. The property was usurped by someone who became the owner. After the triumph of the Islamic revolution, the property was taken away from the usurper. Should the ownership of the property revert to the inheritors or have they precedence over others to buy it from the state?

Answer #1869:

Having control over something by way of inheritance should not necessarily mean the actualisation of ownership. Nor should it give [the inheritors] the right to buy the property. Nevertheless, it is a shar‘ī indication of ownership unless the contrary is proven. If it was proved that they did not own the property or, for that matter, it was proved that the property belongs to some other people, they [the inheritors] have no right to claim it back or ask for compensation. Otherwise, they should have the right to restore the very property or the compensation thereof by virtue of their being holders of the actual control.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Usurpation