How should the price of a jointly sold house be divided when prior division based on area (dhira') resulted in unequal shares?

General Chapter

Al-Mughni

Book of Judiciary

Book 62 · Issue 1 · Bab 1

Open in Qurani

Primary text

When partners divide a house, resulting in some receiving an excess or deficit in measured areas (dhira') relative to their initial shares, and subsequently sell the entire house, the proceeds must be divided according to the original measured shares (al-akdār). This is because the excess area acquired by one partner is considered an augmentation of their ownership share. However, if the deviation in measured area resulted from one partner taking the superior portion (e.g., better quality land) while the other took the inferior portion, the price must be divided equally, not proportionally to the area, as the quality difference balances the area difference.