Land Gifted by the Holy Prophet (sa)
When the Holy Prophet (sa) marked out the boundaries for people’s dwellings in Medina, he allotted a large portion of land to Hazrat Zubair (ra). The Holy Prophet (sa) also gave him a date orchard.
(Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, Vol. 3 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1990] 76)
With regard to the Holy Prophet (sa) granting land to Hazrat Zubair (ra), Hazrat Khalifat-ul-Masih II (ra) says:
“The Holy Prophet (sa) bestowed a vast piece of land to Hazrat Zubair (ra) which officially belonged to the state. It was so vast that his horse could run until its last breath.” In other words, it could run as far as it was able to. Hazrat Zubair (ra) threw his whip with full force from the point where his horse had stopped running. Thereupon, the Holy Prophet (sa) decided that he would not only be given the land up to the point where his horse had stopped, but the area where his whip landed would also be granted to him.”
Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) further writes:
“The horses in our country can run for miles as well, but Arab horses can run even faster. If we suppose that the horse could only run up to four or five miles [before stopping], even then the land that was granted to him would be approximately 20,000 acres.”
Imam Abu Yusuf writes in his book, Kitab al-Kharaj, that the Holy Prophet (sa) allocated a portion of land for Hazrat Zubair (ra) which contained date-palms. This excerpt from Imam Abu Yusuf’s writings was also cited by Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra). Hazrat Khalifatul Masih II (ra) writes:
“The land he was given had date-palms and at one point, this belonged to the Jewish tribe Banu Nazir and this was a village recognised as Juruf.” Juruf is the name of a place situated three miles from Medina in the direction of Syria. “This was a traditional village. When we place this account alongside the other narrations, it can be concluded that at the time, the Holy Prophet (sa) gave the upper part of the land to Hazrat Zubair (ra)” i.e., where there is mention of the horse running, and this equated to approximately 15,000 or 20,000 acres. “This was given to him at a time when he was already the owner of a village which contained date-palms.”
(Hazrat Mirza Bashiruddin Mahmud Ahmad (ra), Islam aur Malkiyat-e-Zameen, Anwar al-Ulum, Vol. 21, p. 429) (Yaqut Ibn Abdullah al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-Buldan, Vol. 4 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi], 247)