Section
The preponderant view is that ownership of the corpus (raqabah) of the endowed property passes to Allah Most High—in other words, it is removed from the private domain of every human being, so it belongs neither to the settlor nor to the beneficiary. The usufruct, however, is owned by the beneficiary, who may enjoy it himself or through others by lending or leasing it, and he owns both the rent and the returns, such as fruit, wool, and milk. According to the sounder position, this includes the offspring as well; a secondary view holds that the offspring itself becomes waqf. If the endowed animal dies, its hide belongs exclusively to the beneficiary. He is likewise entitled to the dowry payable for a female slave if she is sexually approached through mistaken assumption or by marriage—should we deem that marriage valid, which is the preferred opinion. The authoritative ruling is that the beneficiary does not own the value of an endowed slave if the slave is destroyed; instead, that compensation is used to purchase another slave to replace him in the waqf, and if that is impossible, then a proportional share of a slave. Should a tree included in the waqf dry up, the endowment is not terminated; rather, it may be used as timber. Another opinion says it should be sold and its price treated like the value of the slave. The stronger view permits the sale of a mosque’s reed mats when they wear out and its beams when they break and are fit only for firewood. If, however, a mosque collapses and rebuilding it proves impossible, it may not be sold under any circumstances.

Section
If the settlor stipulates that supervision (nazar) is to be undertaken by himself or by another person, that stipulation is followed; otherwise, supervision devolves upon the judge, according to the school. The supervisor must be upright, competent, and capable of sound management. His duties include maintenance, leasing, collecting the revenues, and distributing them; if he is authorized to handle only some of these tasks, he must not exceed what he has been assigned. The settlor may dismiss the supervisor he appointed and install another, unless he stipulated the supervisor’s tenure in the original deed of endowment. Should the supervisor lease the property and, during the term, rents rise or someone offers a higher amount, the contract does not, on the sound opinion, dissolve.