If it is objected that al-Khiraqī’s wording is:

“When the endowed property falls into ruin and yields nothing, and something that yields income for the endowment’s beneficiaries is purchased with its sale proceeds.”

The answer is:

This wording may mean that it no longer yields any of the income it produced when its buildings were intact—as with houses and shops that have fallen into ruin. If they merely fell into disrepair, they would still yield some of the income they produced when fully maintained; if they were completely ruined, however, they would yield none of that income. Alternatively, “yields nothing” may mean that it has ceased to be useful in any way.

If he intended the first meaning—which is the apparent meaning and the appropriate way to understand his words—then it accords with what we have said. This is why he said, “It is sold.” If it had ceased to be useful in every respect, its sale would not be permissible.

If, however, he meant that the endowment’s beneficiaries could no longer benefit from it in any way because its site could not be leased, although others could still benefit from it—as Ahmad said concerning the slave—then the explicit meaning of his words accords with what has already been stated. Their implication, however, would be that if the beneficiaries could lease it for even the smallest rent, selling it would not be permissible. At most, this would constitute one opinion within the school. Ahmad’s explicit statements, however, contradict this regarding the sale of a mosque, a horse endowed for jihad, and other such things, as already mentioned concerning the mosque.

As for a horse endowed for jihad, if it becomes unfit for that purpose, its purchaser may buy it to ride or to drive a mill. Those engaged in jihad could also benefit from it in similar ways: carrying loads on it, using it to drive a mill, or hiring it out and benefiting from its rental income. Yet the benefit intended by endowing it—namely, riding it in jihad—has ceased, even though their ability to benefit from it has not ceased in every respect.