endowment whose benefits are stipulated for one’s children and other well-to-do relatives is invalid; every endowment dedicated to Allah’s cause and charitable purposes is permissible.”

Section

Having established that an endowment is permissible and binding, its completion requires that possession be taken and control assumed, as with gifts and charitable donations. If possession is not taken from the founder and the property remains in his hands until his death, the endowment is invalid and the property passes to his heirs. The contract itself, however, is valid and binding even if possession is not taken at the time it is concluded. The founder may not revoke it and must deliver the property to the beneficiary. If he refuses, he is compelled to do so. Delay in taking possession does not invalidate the contract unless the beneficiary dies while possession is pending, thereby losing the opportunity to receive it from the founder. These are general principles requiring further explanation, and some aspects are disputed. All of this will be discussed in its proper place, Allah willing.

Section

Three expressions are used to establish an endowment: habs (endowment), waqf (endowment), and sadaqah (charitable gift).

Habs and waqf have the same meaning and do not differ in any respect. When a man endows his house or landed property, his endowment must fall into one of three categories:

First: it is for specified individuals.

Second: it is for unspecified beneficiaries who are neither a delimited group nor individually designated.

Third: it is for a delimited group whose members are not individually designated. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb stated in his commentary on al-Risālah that a waqf must always be permanently inalienable. This is incorrect, since there is no difference between a man saying, “I have made this house a waqf for so-and-so,” and saying, “I have made it a habs for him.”

As for the first category—an endowment for a specified individual, where the founder says, “This house is an endowment for