Ruling on eating from what a father endowed for the public benefit

Question:
What is your opinion—may Allah reward you—regarding one-third of my deceased father's wealth, which is designated as *sabil* (public benefit)? Is it permissible for me and my family to eat from it, knowing that it is livestock, and my children raise it and labor over it?

Answer:
If your father bequeathed one-third for acts of righteousness, as is the custom of the Bedouin, then you and your family may eat from it if you are in need of it. You may eat from it in a proper manner, for your clothing, your food, your guests, and the like, in a proper manner.
Likewise, if your children serve this one-third and labor over it, then you and your children may eat from it in a proper manner.
And if Allah makes you self-sufficient and you have no need of it, then it is better that you preserve it for acts of charity, to help the poor and the needy, and to assist in acts of good, such as building mosques, paying off the debts of debtors, and the like.
And if you are in need of it, you are more entitled to it than anyone else for your specific need, without taking from it wealth, dwellings, or the like. Rather, you take only what you need, eating only what you and your household need. And if you appoint from your children or others to look after it for the customary wage, to tend to it if it is sheep or camels, then there is no harm in paying them the customary wage.