The administrator is not permitted to relinquish any part of the endowment for purposes other than those specified for it
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Fatwa No. ( 19425 )
Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the letter sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the honorable judge of the Badr Court, No. (114), dated 18/1/1418 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with No. (509) and dated 25/1/1418 AH. The letter stated: “We inform Your Eminence that the Great Grand Mosque in Badr, needs to be rebuilt and expanded. We have submitted a request to Your Eminence for assistance in its construction. However, we inform you that there is land adjacent to the mosque on the western side, which belongs to the endowment of the Ashraf, and upon which stand shops rented out to citizens. There are six shops, and the rent for each shop is (35,000 riyals) per year. The text of the endowment states: ‘We have endowed, held, given in charity, and made perpetual the entire land mentioned above for the descendants of 'Abd al-Ashraf of Badr, males and females equally, as many as they may multiply... etc.’ We have consulted with the endowment administrator, and he has relinquished this land for the expansion
of the mosque. It is a small area, not exceeding (9 x 25 m) along the length of the mosque, approximately. Please note that the existing mosque is partly built on the land of the Ashraf (the aforementioned endowment). Therefore, we hope for Your Eminence’s response: Is the administrator’s relinquishment of this land for the expansion of the mosque valid and acceptable in Shari'ah, or is the consent of all beneficiaries required? This is difficult due to the large number of beneficiaries, including the old and the young, males and females, and those who are traveling. Please make this response swift, may Allah preserve you and guide your steps, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry and review of a copy of the endower’s deed attached, it responded that it is not permissible for the aforementioned endowment administrator or anyone else to relinquish any part of the endowment land or its assets for the benefit of the aforementioned mosque or any other; because the aforementioned land is endowed for specific individuals, so it is exclusive to them, namely the descendants of 'Abd al-Ashraf of Badr, males and females equally, as many as they may multiply, to the end of what was stipulated in the endowment bequest. The relinquishment by the endowment administrator or the consent of the endowment beneficiaries does not justify the permissibility of this; for the endowment is a binding contract, which is not sold, not gifted, and not inherited, and it is not permissible to dispose of it in any way other than what the endower stipulated.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Praise be to Allah alone, and peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. And after: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed the letter sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from the honorable judge of the Badr Court, No. (114), dated 18/1/1418 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with No. (509) and dated 25/1/1418 AH. The letter stated: “We inform Your Eminence that the Great Grand Mosque in Badr, needs to be rebuilt and expanded. We have submitted a request to Your Eminence for assistance in its construction. However, we inform you that there is land adjacent to the mosque on the western side, which belongs to the endowment of the Ashraf, and upon which stand shops rented out to citizens. There are six shops, and the rent for each shop is (35,000 riyals) per year. The text of the endowment states: ‘We have endowed, held, given in charity, and made perpetual the entire land mentioned above for the descendants of 'Abd al-Ashraf of Badr, males and females equally, as many as they may multiply... etc.’ We have consulted with the endowment administrator, and he has relinquished this land for the expansion
of the mosque. It is a small area, not exceeding (9 x 25 m) along the length of the mosque, approximately. Please note that the existing mosque is partly built on the land of the Ashraf (the aforementioned endowment). Therefore, we hope for Your Eminence’s response: Is the administrator’s relinquishment of this land for the expansion of the mosque valid and acceptable in Shari'ah, or is the consent of all beneficiaries required? This is difficult due to the large number of beneficiaries, including the old and the young, males and females, and those who are traveling. Please make this response swift, may Allah preserve you and guide your steps, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry and review of a copy of the endower’s deed attached, it responded that it is not permissible for the aforementioned endowment administrator or anyone else to relinquish any part of the endowment land or its assets for the benefit of the aforementioned mosque or any other; because the aforementioned land is endowed for specific individuals, so it is exclusive to them, namely the descendants of 'Abd al-Ashraf of Badr, males and females equally, as many as they may multiply, to the end of what was stipulated in the endowment bequest. The relinquishment by the endowment administrator or the consent of the endowment beneficiaries does not justify the permissibility of this; for the endowment is a binding contract, which is not sold, not gifted, and not inherited, and it is not permissible to dispose of it in any way other than what the endower stipulated.
And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.