the ruler removed it from their administration and entrusted it to the imam and preacher, are they entitled, in these circumstances, to administer it and prevent him from doing so while his appointment remains in force? If someone unlawfully administers it and diverts some of its funds to someone else, while the imam is in need and the mosque’s services are being maintained, and persists in doing so under these circumstances, does this impugn his religious commitment and uprightness or not?

He replied:

No administrator other than the one entrusted with this endowment may take control of it or administer it without his permission—neither the trustees of another endowment nor anyone else—whether or not they previously administered it. Nor may they, in the circumstances described, spend the mosque’s funds on purposes other than those for which they were endowed. Rather, the imam and others must be paid their entitlements in full. Their entitlements must not be reduced in order to divert the resulting surplus to another endowment, for there is no disagreement that this is impermissible.

The scholars differed only over whether surplus funds may be transferred. Even those who permitted this did not allow anyone other than the appointed administrator to act independently in doing so. Whoever persists in disbursing funds to someone not entitled to them while withholding them from the rightful recipient thereby impugns his religious commitment and uprightness.