All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace
and blessing be upon whom Allah sent as a mercy to the Worlds, upon his Family,
his Companions and his Brothers till the Day of Resurrection.
Certainly, Sharia incites people to make Waqf and
recommends it. Sharia, also, considers it as a way to get nearer to Allah. By
making Waqf, the believer will get a part of the reward in his life, and
the good deeds that result from it will be recorded in his favour after his
death, because it is a part of [the good] that he collected and for which he
strived. It is authentically reported that the Prophet صلَّى اللهُ عليه
وآله وسَلَّم says: “When a
person dies, all his [good] deeds come to an end except three: ongoing
charity, beneficial knowledge and a righteous child who will pray for him.”
However, this hadith does not oppose the verse in which Allah عزَّ وجلَّ says:
﴿وَأَنْ لَيْسَ
لِلإِنْسَانِ إِلاَّ مَا سَعَى﴾ [النجم : 39].
The meaning of the verse:
﴾And
that there is not for man except that [good] for which he strives﴿ [An-Najm (The Star): 39], for either his
son or the knowledge that he left or the ongoing charity that he made are part
of [the good] for which he strived.
These good deeds are not limited to those mentioned in the
hadith. These ones are not but examples of several other good qualities and
different kinds of devotional acts. The following hadith attests this meaning;
the Prophet صلَّى
اللهُ عليه وآله وسَلَّم says:
“The good deeds that will reach the believer after his death are: knowledge
which he learned and then spread; a righteous son whom he leaves behind; a copy
of the Qur’an that he leaves as a legacy; a mosque that he built; a house that
he built for wayfarers; a canal that he dug; or charity that he gave from his
money during his lifetime when he was in good health. These deeds will reach
him after his death.”
And till nowadays, [members of] our community still make Waqf from their
money.
In fact, the person who makes Waqf is allowed to use
it, if it is a designated part from his steady property given to charity as: mosques,
schools where we teach the Qur’an, copies of the Qur’an and books that contain
the beneficial knowledge. In this case, we should fulfil his conditions, unless
they go against the Sharia’s prescriptions; the Prophet صلَّى اللهُ عليه
وآله وسَلَّم says: “The
Muslims should abide by their conditions, except a condition that makes a licit
thing illicit or makes an illicit thing licit.”.
He says also: “Any condition that is not in Allah’s Book is invalid...”.
If the Waqf is a mosque, it is the governor who should
manage it or his substitute. Nevertheless, he is not allowed to use this Waqf,
be it by selling it, granting it, bequeathing it or by any other way of transferring
[goods], seeing that the Prophet صلَّى اللهُ عليه وآله وسَلَّم said to `Umar about the Waqf: “If
you wish you can keep the original property as a Waqf and give in
charity from it (from what it produces).” So ‘Umar gave it in
charity, on the condition that the land would neither be sold nor given as a
present nor bequeathed.”.
All this is taken into account if the Waqf has not
become completely useless, like the case of a mosque which has fallen into
disrepair. In such a case, it is permitted to change it for the predominant
interest. We can sell it and use the money that it brings to build another
similar to it, that is to say another mosque that will be more beneficial to the
people of the country. Moreover, if its sale brings more money than what is
needed, the surplus will be spent on another mosque, because when it is spent
on something similar, its benefit will be put in the same field in which the Waqf
has been set up.
To confirm this meaning, Ibn Taymia answered a question about
the Waqf surplus which exceeds the requirements, by saying that: “It
should be spent in the same domain in which the Waqf has been set up.
The mosque, for instance, if it brings surplus money which is in excess of what
is required, it should be spent on another mosque, because the person who made the
Waqf intended to make it in this domain and they (domains) are similar. If
we suppose that the first mosque got damaged and has become useless, we should
then spend its amount on another mosque. Likewise, if it brings surplus money
that exceeds its requirements, this surplus can neither be spent on it nor be
frozen; so, it will be more beneficial to spend it in the same field where the Waqf
has been set up, and it will be the nearest way to reach the goal of the
person who set it up.”.
It is also permissible to give the surplus money of the income of the mosque
made as a Waqf in charity to needy people. It would rather be obligatory
if we know that the Waqf does not last long, because not taking advantage
from the Waqf’s income is a real mess and waste,
and the Prophet صلَّى اللهُ عليه وآله وسَلَّم has, indeed, prevented us from wasting money.
Besides, the Waqf made for charity’s sake is left in
the care of the person in charge. So, he has to fear Allah as regards this Waqf.
He is also obliged to look after it, and manage in the best way, as much as
possible, what is entrusted to him, in order to achieve the objective of the
person who made the Waqf to get closer to Allah عزَّ وجلَّ by doing pious
deeds and acts of obedience. Therefore, the person who is in charge of the Waqf
is prohibited from modifying a part of it, or taking its benefits to spend them
in domains that are in contradiction to the rites of piety.
It is, similarly, prohibited to change the Waqf into disbelievers
place of worship, or to construct on it mausoleums and objects of worship, or
to bury the dead in the mosques or in its yards, or to spend the Waqf’s
income on the keepers of mausoleums and funeral monuments or to enlighten,
cover and cense these ones. It is also forbidden to take out a part from the Waqf
and put on it statues and commemorative or non-commemorative monuments, or set
up pictures on the Waqf or on the part taken out, or devote it to amusement
and acts of disobedience and other such deeds that go against monotheism or
against perfecting it, and oppose obedience and piety, because this is a forbidden
change. In fact, helping one another in doing such a thing is included in sin
and transgression that we are prohibited to commit; Allah عزَّ وجلَّ says:
﴿وَتَعَاوَنُوا
عَلَى الْبِرِّ وَالتَّقْوَى وَلاَ تَعَاوَنُوا عَلَى الإِثْمِ وَالعُدْوَانِ﴾
[المائدة 2].
The meaning of the verse:
﴾Help
you one another in Al-Birr and At-Taqwâ (virtue, righteousness and piety); but
do not help one another in sin and transgression﴿ [Al-Mâ'ida (The Table Spread with Food): 2].
Our last prayer is all praise is due to Allah, the Lord
of the Worlds. Peace and blessing be upon our Prophet, his Family, his
Companions and his Brothers till the Day of Resurrection.
Algiers: Shawwâl 20th, 1432 H
Corresponding
to September 18th, 2011 G
