Chapter on the Rulings of Waqf (charitable endowments)
A waqf is defined as retaining the underlying asset while designating its yield for charitable use.
The “underlying asset” is anything from which benefit can be derived without consuming the asset itself—such as houses, shops, orchards, and the like.
The “yield” refers to whatever revenue or benefit arises from that asset, like fruit, rent, or the right to reside in a dwelling, and similar forms of profit.
The legal ruling on a waqf is that it is a recommended act of devotion in Islam.
The proof lies in sound prophetic practice: In the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections it is reported that ʿUmar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Messenger of Allah, I have obtained a piece of land in Khaybar that is more valuable to me than any wealth I have ever acquired; what do you command me to do with it?” He replied, “If you wish, keep the principal intact and give its produce in charity; but the principal must neither be sold, nor given away, nor inherited.” ʿUmar therefore dedicated it to the poor, to relatives, for freeing captives, in the cause of Allah, to wayfarers, and to guests.
Muslim also relates in his Ṣaḥīḥ that the Prophet ﷺ said, “When a person dies…”