What is the ruling of Islamic law regarding the division of agricultural land among heirs that was based on false claims (fraud and deception) concerning the area and quality of the trees, and what is the Shar'i ruling on the lottery that was conducted based on this misleading information, especially with the presence of objectors to the division?
The principle is that a division made by mutual consent and lottery is not to be rescinded, except in the case of manifest excessive deception (ghabn fahish) or clear error (ghalat bayyin), and religious legal proof (bayyinah shar'iyyah) must be established for this. Scholars have explicitly stated that error is among the reasons that invalidate a division. Thus, if proof of error is established, the division is annulled. However, if the heirs consented to the division and drew lots for it, and then some of them claimed excessive deception, their claim is not accepted, because they agreed to take their right even if it was deficient. These contentious and rights-related issues are referred to the Sharia court or to a man of knowledge and religion to resolve the dispute.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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