What is the ruling on exchanging copies of books endowed to the library with other books?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Yusuf, from the library of al-Shabba Mosque in the Mawdi district of the capital. There is a question we would like to ask you. Is it possible?
The Shaykh : Yes, go ahead.
The questioner : You are more precious to us. We have in the library some books that have two copies, and these are a waqf (endowment) for Allah the Exalted. So we want to exchange those extra copies for other books to stock the library, and these are given to us by some of the patrons. Is there any religious violation in doing so? I ask for clarification.
The Shaykh : If it is not possible to obtain the book desired for exchange with a book from the second copy you have, if it is not possible to obtain this required book, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. Because the default is that anything endowed in a mosque is not permissible to change except for a realized benefit that cannot be realized except through such an exchange. Is the answer clear?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So some of the books from these copies are yours. And we cannot obtain them except from these brothers.
The Shaykh : And then, what is this subject and where is the predicate?
The questioner : Huh?
The Shaykh : You brought the subject from the speech, so where is its predicate?
The questioner : I mean, we cannot easily talk about these books. Is it possible that when these brothers come to us, we take them? By exchange. And the answer to the question, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : After that, if it becomes clear. After a while it became clear, but did my answer not become clear to you?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh. Yes. No.
The Shaykh : Why? I told you that if you cannot obtain the required book except by exchange, it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. Why did the answer not become clear to you?
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And may He bless you.
The Shaykh : Yes, go ahead.
The questioner : You are more precious to us. We have in the library some books that have two copies, and these are a waqf (endowment) for Allah the Exalted. So we want to exchange those extra copies for other books to stock the library, and these are given to us by some of the patrons. Is there any religious violation in doing so? I ask for clarification.
The Shaykh : If it is not possible to obtain the book desired for exchange with a book from the second copy you have, if it is not possible to obtain this required book, then it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. Because the default is that anything endowed in a mosque is not permissible to change except for a realized benefit that cannot be realized except through such an exchange. Is the answer clear?
The questioner : Yes, yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : So some of the books from these copies are yours. And we cannot obtain them except from these brothers.
The Shaykh : And then, what is this subject and where is the predicate?
The questioner : Huh?
The Shaykh : You brought the subject from the speech, so where is its predicate?
The questioner : I mean, we cannot easily talk about these books. Is it possible that when these brothers come to us, we take them? By exchange. And the answer to the question, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : After that, if it becomes clear. After a while it became clear, but did my answer not become clear to you?
The questioner : No, O Shaykh. Yes. No.
The Shaykh : Why? I told you that if you cannot obtain the required book except by exchange, it is permissible; otherwise, it is not. Why did the answer not become clear to you?
The questioner : May Allah bless you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : And may He bless you.
Source
سلسلة الهدى والنور، الشريط 1115 — al-albany.com (46:49)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.