Ruling on selling an endowment if its benefits have ceased

Question:
The listener is Hasan Sa'id Muhammad al-Qa'idi from Yemen, Hadramaut. His message contained more than one question. One of his questions is long, and its summary is: If the benefits of an endowment cease, should it be sold so that its price can be used for benefit in another place?

Answer:
Yes, if the benefits of the endowment cease, it is sold, and something better than it is bought with the proceeds. If a house has ceased to be useful, or a shop has ceased to be useful, it is sold, and a smaller house or a smaller shop that can be used is bought with the proceeds. Or if land has ceased to be useful for agriculture and people are not interested in it, it is sold so that it can be used for housing, and something better than it is bought with the proceeds. Or the person in charge of the endowment can develop it with houses for residence, if he is able to do so. It should not be left idle, because this is a form of wasting wealth, which is not permissible. Rather, it is obligatory to look into its matter, either by repairing and developing it, or by selling it and buying something better than it. This should be done through the court, if there is a court in the country, in an Islamic country that has a court. Otherwise, it should be done through the people of good, such as an Islamic center, or the scholar who is trusted in the town, or in the Muslim minority, so that he can cooperate with the person in charge of the endowment in this matter.
The point is: The person in charge of the endowment should cooperate with the people of good in this matter so that he may clear his conscience, and so that this endowment may be saved from being idle.
As for if it is in a country that has a court, the person in charge should consult the court and proceed in accordance with the court's directives regarding the sale and the purchase of the replacement. Yes.

The presenter : May Allah reward you with good.