surplus can neither be spent on it nor left idle. Spending it on the same general kind of purpose is therefore preferable and comes closest to fulfilling the founder’s intention. Ahmad narrated from ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, that he urged people to give to a slave under a contract of manumission. When the contributions exceeded that slave’s needs, he allocated the surplus to others under such contracts.

He was asked:

A judge has assigned a righteous man an allowance from charitable funds for himself and the poor who come to him. Is anyone permitted to compete with him for it or forcibly take it from him?

He answered:

It is established in an authentic hadith that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. It is not lawful for a Muslim to undercut his brother’s sale or outbid him in purchase negotiations. Nor may a woman ask for her sister’s divorce so as to deprive her of her portion, for she will have what has been decreed for her.”

If, in contracts involving an exchange, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade a man to outbid his brother in purchase negotiations or to propose marriage to a woman to whom his brother has already proposed—even before the person has acquired what he seeks—how can it be lawful for a man to approach someone whom the authority has assigned an allowance from charitable or other funds, to which he is entitled and which he needs, and then compete with him for it, seeking to take it away from him? This is even more strictly forbidden than those acts. And Allah knows best.