his deeds come to an end except for three: an ongoing charity, knowledge from which people continue to benefit after him, or a righteous child who prays for him.”

Jābir said, “None of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah who had the means failed to establish a waqf.”

Al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH) remarked, “The jurists unanimously agree on the permissibility of endowing bridges and mosques; they differ regarding other kinds of property.”

For a waqf to be valid, the donor must have full legal capacity—that is, he must be an adult, free, and of sound judgment. Therefore, a waqf made by a minor, an incompetent spender, or a slave is invalid.

A waqf can be concluded in either of two ways:

1. By a verbal declaration clearly indicating the waqf, such as saying, “I have endowed this place,” or “I have made it a mosque.”
2. By an action that, according to common usage, denotes a waqf—like turning one’s house into a mosque and granting the public unrestricted permission to pray there, or designating one’s land as a cemetery and allowing people in general to bury in it.

The wording employed to establish a waqf falls into two categories:

(a) Explicit terms, such as saying, “waqaftu” (I have endowed) or “ḥabastu” (I have dedicated);