Repairing a specific endowment: Is it permissible to do so from the surplus of another endowment by the same endower?
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Fatwa No. ( 125 )
In my capacity as the executor of the estate of the late Majesty King Saud (may Allah have mercy on him), among the items we found in his estate were endowment documents. Among these was an endowment for a building in al-Maqaybarah, and I have attached a copy of it for you. Since we have a surplus from its yield after paying the dues owed to it, and the late mother (may Allah have mercy on her) had a group of endowments consisting of houses for imams and mu'adhdhins, some of the imams
and mu'adhdhins have requested that these houses be repaired, but we have nothing with which to repair them. Is it permissible for us to repair these houses from this surplus yield? The question ends here. Upon reviewing the deed mentioned, we found two deeds: one numbered 615/11 dated 26/12/1380 AH, which certifies ownership of the building mentioned by the supervisor above, issued by the Notary Public of Riyadh, and the other numbered 533/8 dated 17/11/1380 AH, issued by the Notary Public of Riyadh. The following text appears at the bottom of this deed: "The aforementioned plot of land was endowed by Wadha, the mother of Saud ibn Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal, and she allocated four sacrificial animals from its yield. After specifying who the sacrificial animals are for, she stated that whatever remains after the sacrifices is to be spent on food and water for the mosques, and she mentioned seven mosques on 4/6/1385 AH. It bears the seal of Shaykh Abdul Latif ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him).
A: After the Committee studied the question and the two attached deeds, it wrote the following answer: Since ownership of the plot of land and its status as an endowment have been established, the priority from its yield is its repair. Whatever remains after repairing the endowment itself is to be spent on the purposes specified by the endower, namely the sacrificial animals, food, and water for the mosques that
she mentioned. If anything remains after that, since the houses for the imams and mu'adhdhins are an endowment by the same endower of the plot of land, and since these houses need repair, it is permissible to repair these houses from this surplus yield after fulfilling what the endower specified. It is worth noting that the interest of maintaining these houses, which are an endowment for the imams and mu'adhdhins, takes precedence over their use by the imams and mu'adhdhins. On this basis, in order to preserve them for the future, an annual salary should be allocated for them, and they should be inspected at the end of each year. If they require repair, each house should be repaired from its salary, and whatever remains should be given to the mu'adhdhin or imam for whom the house was endowed. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
In my capacity as the executor of the estate of the late Majesty King Saud (may Allah have mercy on him), among the items we found in his estate were endowment documents. Among these was an endowment for a building in al-Maqaybarah, and I have attached a copy of it for you. Since we have a surplus from its yield after paying the dues owed to it, and the late mother (may Allah have mercy on her) had a group of endowments consisting of houses for imams and mu'adhdhins, some of the imams
and mu'adhdhins have requested that these houses be repaired, but we have nothing with which to repair them. Is it permissible for us to repair these houses from this surplus yield? The question ends here. Upon reviewing the deed mentioned, we found two deeds: one numbered 615/11 dated 26/12/1380 AH, which certifies ownership of the building mentioned by the supervisor above, issued by the Notary Public of Riyadh, and the other numbered 533/8 dated 17/11/1380 AH, issued by the Notary Public of Riyadh. The following text appears at the bottom of this deed: "The aforementioned plot of land was endowed by Wadha, the mother of Saud ibn Abdulaziz ibn Abdurrahman Al-Faisal, and she allocated four sacrificial animals from its yield. After specifying who the sacrificial animals are for, she stated that whatever remains after the sacrifices is to be spent on food and water for the mosques, and she mentioned seven mosques on 4/6/1385 AH. It bears the seal of Shaykh Abdul Latif ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him).
A: After the Committee studied the question and the two attached deeds, it wrote the following answer: Since ownership of the plot of land and its status as an endowment have been established, the priority from its yield is its repair. Whatever remains after repairing the endowment itself is to be spent on the purposes specified by the endower, namely the sacrificial animals, food, and water for the mosques that
she mentioned. If anything remains after that, since the houses for the imams and mu'adhdhins are an endowment by the same endower of the plot of land, and since these houses need repair, it is permissible to repair these houses from this surplus yield after fulfilling what the endower specified. It is worth noting that the interest of maintaining these houses, which are an endowment for the imams and mu'adhdhins, takes precedence over their use by the imams and mu'adhdhins. On this basis, in order to preserve them for the future, an annual salary should be allocated for them, and they should be inspected at the end of each year. If they require repair, each house should be repaired from its salary, and whatever remains should be given to the mu'adhdhin or imam for whom the house was endowed. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.