and likewise with respect to stipulating a particular attribute or knowledge of it, the order1 of distribution, supervision, and the like. If the donor leaves the wording unrestricted and makes no specific condition, the rich and the poor, the male and the female, all stand on an equal footing, and the right of supervision rests with the beneficiary.

If he dedicates the waqf to his children—or to someone else’s children—and then to the needy, it belongs first to his sons and daughters in equal shares, and after them to the children of his sons, excluding the children of his daughters, just as if he had said, “to his grandchildren”2 or “to his descendants from his own loins.” Should he say, “to his sons” or “to the sons of So-and-so,” it is confined to the males among them, unless they constitute a tribe, in which case their women are included3 but not their children by other fathers. The expressions “relatives,” “household,” and “his people” cover both males and females from among his children, his father, his grandfather, and his great-grandfather—yet if there is an indicator showing that females are either meant or excluded, that indicator is to be followed.

When a waqf is made in favor of a group that can be precisely counted, every one of them must be included4 and receive an equal share; if they cannot be counted, preference may be shown and the distribution may be limited to some of them.

Section

A waqf is a binding contract: it may not be revoked, nor sold, unless its benefits have ceased. In that case, its price is to be spent on something similar—even if it is a mosque and its appurtenances. Anything remaining beyond its needs may be transferred to another mosque or given as charity to the poor among the Muslims.