Is liability incurred for damage caused by sparks from a permitted fire or watering an owned plot?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Usurpation
Primary text
Liability is not incurred if a spark from a fire ignited in one's property or barren land burns a neighbor's house, or if water used to irrigate one's land floods a neighbor's land, provided that the action taken was customary and without negligence or excess. This exemption is because the actor is not considered an aggressor (*mut'addin*), and the damage is considered an extension (*sarayah*) of a permissible act, for which no liability exists, similar to the extension of retribution (*qawad*). This is supported by the view of Al-Shafi'i being the same as what has been mentioned.
Supporting text
Liability is incurred if the damage resulted from negligence (*tafrit*), such as setting a large fire prone to spreading, lighting a fire during strong winds, opening a large volume of water that spreads excessively, opening water onto another's land, or lighting a fire in another person's house. Furthermore, if the damage spreads beyond the initial house or land where the water was opened, liability remains because it becomes an extension of aggression (*sarayat 'udwan*), resembling the extension of a wound where aggression occurred.