The author—may Allah have mercy on him—did not mention the legal classification of an endowment: that is, whether it is permissible, prohibited, obligatory, or recommended. Rather, he mentioned its legal validity, saying: “It is valid.”

However, we say: an endowment is a donation of property and the withholding of it from disposal. If it is made for a legitimate purpose, it is recommended, because it is a form of charity. If a person vows to make it, it becomes obligatory by virtue of the vow. If it entails injustice, or is designated for something unlawful, it is prohibited. If it restricts the heirs, it is disliked. Thus, all five legal classifications may apply to it. This is with respect to its legal classification.

So, if someone comes to us and says, “I wish to endow this land in order to build a mosque on it,” we say to him: “This is recommended, because it is an act of beneficence and charity, and Allah Most High loves those who do good.”

His statement, “by verbal declaration,” means that one says: “I have endowed my house,” “I have endowed my car,” or “I have endowed my land,” and the like. It will follow that verbal declarations are of two types.

As for an act, there must be an indication that it constitutes an endowment. If such an indication exists, then it is an endowment even if he intended otherwise. Hence he says:

“Or by an act indicating it, such as one who makes his land into a mosque and permits people to pray in it, or into a graveyard and permits burial in it …”

“Or by an act indicating it, such as one who makes his land into a mosque and permits people to pray in it”: that is, he builds a mosque and tells the people, “Pray in it.” Here, he has not said that it is an endowment, but he has performed an act indicating an endowment, because the man built