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Is it permissible to purchase an apartment built on land usurped from its owners without their consent or compensation, and does the ruling differ if the landowners were compensated?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Usurpation (Ghasb) is forbidden by the Sharia, based on the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and scholarly consensus (Ijma’). The sale of usurped property is not valid unless the usurper buys it with the owner's consent. Accordingly, the usurped land is not owned by the usurping state unless it gives its owners the choice between having it returned or selling it, and they agree to the sale. The usurper does not have the right to sell the usurped property or build on it because he does not own it, unless the coercion is lawful, as in the case of mortgaging land for a debt. Since it has been established that the land is usurped, it is not permissible to buy or rent any apartment on it.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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