replacement, since it fulfills the intended purpose; this involves directing its benefit to a comparable beneficiary when it cannot be directed to the designated beneficiary.

For if a mosque is endowed in a town or neighborhood, and the people of that area can no longer benefit from it, its benefit is directed to an equivalent purpose: a mosque is built with it elsewhere. He likewise holds that a mosque’s oil and mats, when no longer needed, are transferred to another mosque. In his view, they may also be given to poor neighbors. As evidence, he cited the fact that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him—used to distribute the covering of the Kaaba among the Muslims. The same therefore applies to the coverings of other mosques, since Muslims are entitled to benefit from mosques.

As evidence for directing such property to an equivalent purpose, he cited the fact that ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib—may Allah be pleased with him—collected money for a slave under a contract of emancipation. When there was a surplus beyond the amount required by his contract, he allocated it to other slaves under such contracts. The donors had given the money for emancipation through such a contract; once the designated individual no longer needed it, he directed it to others in the same position.

The point is that Ahmad ibn Hanbal—may Allah have mercy on him—expressed differing views on selling a mosque when it could no longer be used, but his position did not differ regarding the sale of other endowed property when necessary.

In the report transmitted by his son ‘Abd Allāh, he said: “If a mosque falls into ruin, it is sold and its proceeds are spent on another mosque.”

Judge Abū Ya‘lā, in al-Mujarrad, Ibn ‘Aqīl, in al-Fusūl, and others stated—the wording is the judge’s:

“An endowment’s expenses are met from its income, for the aim is to benefit from it while preserving the property itself. This is possible only by spending on it; thus preserving it entails spending