What is the ruling on selling an endowment (waqf)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This is a question from a woman who says: I own a house consisting of residential units; I live in some of them and rent out the rest. She says: I made this house a waqf (endowment) for Allah and wrote a document to that effect, and I had some of my children witness it. I wrote that the income from it, during my lifetime, I spend on myself, and after my death, it is to be spent on acts of charity. Her question, may Allah preserve you, is: Some of my children have now come to me asking to buy the house from me because it is adjacent to their property and they need it. So I asked for your opinion. What is the ruling on selling it to them, even though I have made it a waqf?
The Shaykh:
If it is an immediate waqf, it is not permissible to sell it. And there is no option. As for if it is a waqf contingent upon death, where she said, “If I die, my house is a waqf,” then its ruling is the ruling of a bequest. It is permissible for her to revoke it and to sell it. Yes.
The presenter:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
She is required to have it authenticated in the court. Writing a simple paper is not sufficient; it must be authenticated in the court to prove it and make it secure. Yes.
This is a question from a woman who says: I own a house consisting of residential units; I live in some of them and rent out the rest. She says: I made this house a waqf (endowment) for Allah and wrote a document to that effect, and I had some of my children witness it. I wrote that the income from it, during my lifetime, I spend on myself, and after my death, it is to be spent on acts of charity. Her question, may Allah preserve you, is: Some of my children have now come to me asking to buy the house from me because it is adjacent to their property and they need it. So I asked for your opinion. What is the ruling on selling it to them, even though I have made it a waqf?
The Shaykh:
If it is an immediate waqf, it is not permissible to sell it. And there is no option. As for if it is a waqf contingent upon death, where she said, “If I die, my house is a waqf,” then its ruling is the ruling of a bequest. It is permissible for her to revoke it and to sell it. Yes.
The presenter:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success.
The Shaykh:
She is required to have it authenticated in the court. Writing a simple paper is not sufficient; it must be authenticated in the court to prove it and make it secure. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم بيع الوقف؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.