Water runoff through another’s property

Question

The houses of two brothers, Zayd and ‘Umar, stand close to each other; between the two houses there is a wall, and beneath the wall there is an opening through which the water of Zayd’s house — rainwater and the like — passes through ‘Umar’s courtyard and flows out onto the public street. This situation has existed for quite a long time.

Answer

[ar]وكذا لو كان مسيل ماء سطحه إلى دار رجل وله فيها ميزاب قديم فليس لصاحب الدار منعه عن مسيل الماء[/ar] “Likewise, if the runoff of water from a man’s roof goes into another man’s house and he has an old drainpipe there, the owner of the house has no right to prevent him from the runoff of water” (“Fatawa Alamgiri”, vol. 5, p. 394).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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