A man from the Ansar disputed with Zubayr before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ over the streams of the Harrah from which they irrigated their date palms.The Ansari said, "Let the water flow through."But Zubayr refused.So they took their dispute to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said to Zubayr, "Water your land, Zubayr, then send the water on to your neighbor."The Ansari became angry and said, "Is it because he is the son of your aunt?"The face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ changed color, and he said, "Water your land, Zubayr, then hold back the water until it returns to the walls."Zubayr said, "By Allah, I believe this verse was revealed concerning that incident, 'But no, by your Lord, they will not truly believe until they make you judge in their disputes'" [Nisa 4:65].
أن رجلا من الأنصار خاصم الزبير عند رسول الله ﷺ في شراح الحرة التي يسقون بها النخل. فقال الأنصاري: سرح الماء يمر، فأبى عليه، فاختصما إلى رسول الله ﷺ. فقال رسول الله ﷺ للزبير: اسق يا زبير، ثم أرسل الماء إلى جارك. فغضب الأنصاري فقال: أن كان ابن عمتك؟ فتلون وجه رسول الله ﷺ ثم قال: اسق يا زبير، ثم احبس الماء حتى يرجع إلى الجدار فقال الزبير: والله إني لأحسب هذه الآية نزلت في ذلك: {فلا وربك لا يؤمنون حتى يحكموك فيما شجر بينهم} [النساء: ٦٥].
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Irrigation (2359), and Muslim narrated it in the Book of Virtues (2357), both of them from the hadith of Layth, from Ibn Shihab, from Urwa, from Abdullah bin Zubayr, and he mentioned it.This contains a point of jurisprudence, namely that the waters of valleys and floods cannot be owned. Also, that the one whose land is higher takes precedence in irrigation over the one whose land is lower. And that the one who is higher has no right to withhold the water from the one who is lower once he has taken what he needs from it.