Chapter on Endowments (Waqf)

Introduction

Waqf, the verbal noun of waqafa (“to stop, detain”), ḥabasa (“to withhold”), and sabbala, shares one and the same meaning; the form awqafa is a rare linguistic variant.

Ibn Fāris observes that the root letters wāw–qāf–fāʾ convey the basic sense of “remaining in place,” and the other usages are analogically derived from that core.

I would add: from this very root meaning the notion of waqf is taken, for an endowment is by definition something that endures.

Legal definition: It is an owner’s withholding of a usable property, preserving its corpus from all acts of disposal, while dedicating its benefit to one of the various avenues of devotion—seeking thereby the Face of Allah.

Ruling: It is recommended (mustahabb). The Sunnah attests to this through many hadiths, among them the report of Abū Hurayrah in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “When the son of Adam dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: an ongoing charity …,” and so forth.

The first generation of Companions and Followers unanimously agreed on both its permissibility and its binding character. Al-Tirmidhī stated, “We know of no Companion or early scholar who differed regarding the permissibility of endowing land.”

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

This demonstrates the consensus of that most excellent generation, so no later dissent is given weight—such as what is related from Shurayḥ, who objected to ḥabs (endowment), or Abū Ḥanīfah’s view that a waqf is not binding, a position from which all of his own students dissented.