on this subject; he did not mean that endowing it is invalid.”

Abū al-Khattāb said:

“As for endowing jewellery to be lent out and worn, this is permissible according to the apparent meaning of what al-Khiraqī transmitted. Al-Athram and Hanbal, however, reported from him that it is invalid.”

His permission to endow a silver-adorned saddle and bridle accords with what al-Khiraqī mentioned. Nevertheless, he prefers replacing it with something more beneficial to the endowment’s beneficiaries: purchasing a saddle and bridle with the proceeds of the silver adornment.

Section

Ahmad’s explicit statements in several places, and the position adopted by the majority of his followers, permit replacing pilgrimage offerings and Eid sacrifices with better ones. In Abū Tālib’s report, Ahmad said concerning a man who buys a sacrificial animal and fattens it for Eid al-Adhā:

“He may exchange it for a better one, but not for an inferior one.”

He was then asked, “If he replaces it with a better one, may he sell it?” He replied, “Yes.”

Al-Qādī said:

“In the reports of Sālih, Ibn Mansūr and ʿAbd Allāh, permission to replace a sacrificial animal with a better one is stated without qualification.”

He added:

“I saw in the questions recorded by al-Fadl ibn Ziyād: ‘Once he has designated it as a sacrifice, he may sell it only to someone who intends to offer it as a sacrifice.’”

These two reports from him parallel the two reports concerning a mosque: may it be sold, or its materials transferred to a better mosque? Likewise here: in one of the two reports, he prohibited taking anything in exchange for it