I bought some books to send to my brother so he could benefit from them, and before sending them, I placed them in my modest personal library
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The questioner : He says: I bought some books to send to my brother so he could benefit from them, and before sending them, I placed them in my modest personal library, and then, after that...
The Shaykh : In what? In what? In what?
The questioner : In my modest personal library, and then, after that, I endowed all my books for the students of knowledge in a specific region after my death. The question is: Do those books that I bought for my brother fall under that endowment?
The Shaykh : Yes, they are included. Because if a person intends a book or any specific item for a person, and that person has not taken possession of it, the giver has the choice: he may proceed with it or he may retract it. So, if a person intends to gift a book to his brother, designates it, and writes his brother's name on it, and then changes his mind and decides not to do it, he is allowed to do so, because a gift is not binding until possession is taken. Likewise, if a person sets aside dirhams intending to give them in charity, and then decides not to do it, there is no blame on him, because the poor person does not own them until he takes possession of them. This is a rule you should adopt so that it benefits you: anything you intend for a purpose but have not executed is in your hand: if you wish, you execute it, and if you wish, you do not. Yes.
The Shaykh : In what? In what? In what?
The questioner : In my modest personal library, and then, after that, I endowed all my books for the students of knowledge in a specific region after my death. The question is: Do those books that I bought for my brother fall under that endowment?
The Shaykh : Yes, they are included. Because if a person intends a book or any specific item for a person, and that person has not taken possession of it, the giver has the choice: he may proceed with it or he may retract it. So, if a person intends to gift a book to his brother, designates it, and writes his brother's name on it, and then changes his mind and decides not to do it, he is allowed to do so, because a gift is not binding until possession is taken. Likewise, if a person sets aside dirhams intending to give them in charity, and then decides not to do it, there is no blame on him, because the poor person does not own them until he takes possession of them. This is a rule you should adopt so that it benefits you: anything you intend for a purpose but have not executed is in your hand: if you wish, you execute it, and if you wish, you do not. Yes.