I would like to share this true story with you about land ownership in Arabic / Muslim cultures.

Firstly, apologies to those of you that know the culture, (I'm not selling ice to Eskimo's here) Lsab, Aisha, Georgina etc, that either are married to, or live there, but I'm sure this may be familiar, and not odd at all. Its intended to be an insight of what might be considered 'norm', thus offering a degree of explanation to some of the issues that have been aired recently.

Let me just say what I understand about certain laws ie. Sharia. Just as most of the laws relating to former Commonwealth / Colonial countries have their roots deeply embeddied in the Christian/ British judicial system, Arabic/Muslim laws are based on Sharia laws. One of the laws being, 'No man shall take another mans land'

For several years, my mother-in-law Ayaisha owned a prime piece of building land in Aqaba. One day, driving past in a taxi, she noticed a beautiful villa emerging out of the rubble. She stopped, screamed at the builders, 'get your stones off my land'. The 'land owner' was fetched, after much screaming and shouting, he agreed to visit Ayaisha at her home that evening, with the land deeds.
He duly arrived, with said deeds, Ayaisha produced hers, which clearly showed her to be the true owner, with the guy owning the adjoining piece of land, which he had recently bought. Also at this meeting was Ayaisha's eldest son, brother-in-law and nephew who is a policeman. Nephew suggested they all meet at the court next day, (no appointment needed, just turn up).
The man agreed, yes he had built on the adjoining land by mistake, and yes the land was worth considerably more than his purchase. What to do then ? Can't knock it down, he's building a family home. Ayaisha agreed to take the man's land in exchange, plus several thousand dinars in cash. When asked when he would pay, the man replied,' when I can afford to'. 'Okay, pay the lady when you can, case dismissed'.

No further contact until the man wanted to connect his utilities, not possible unless the land/property is registered. As it was still registered in Ayaisha's name, only she could connect. Of course he paid up, ownership was transfered the same day. (No appointment needed, just turn up).

The point I am trying to make is, this laid back approach, is certainly not unusual.
Suppose that's why I'm not getting stressed at do I, don't I own my studio.

Vix.

Thanks for that Vix interesting read.

Thankyou Vix it certainly answered a lot of questions for me anyway.
Regards
Sue

Very interesting!

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regards
Stuart
stuartwemyss@fsadvice.co.uk

Thank-you Vix for the story - now, this makes me really concerned.

I am a lawyer in Romania and plan to invest in Egypt (and possibly move there) and have read lots of posts and embassy info on purchasing property in Egypt - nothing like what you wrote, though.

Although I am adventurous, I tend to be careful with my hard-earned money, so it sounds like buying property - aside the inevitable bureaucracy and restrictions - is a very risky business.

Makes me think if it's worth trying in the first place.

Great story Vix and speaks volumes for some of the issues we have all encountered.

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Best, Regards, Neil Hollingsworth Tel:01793 602490/07717826505
Email - neil@rivermeadglobalproperty.co.uk Find us on the FreeIndex directory http://freeindex.co.uk/profile(river...rty)_98122.htm and read our reviews.