—his keeping hold of it during his lifetime constitutes valid seisin, provided he does not deal with it for his own benefit but administers it exclusively for his child. If the adult child has not received possession of the ḥabs before the father’s death, the endowment is void. Likewise, anyone who establishes a ḥabs—whether for relatives or for outsiders—yet neither hands it over nor relinquishes it from his own control until he dies, his act is invalid and the property is inherited by his heirs.

If a man makes a ḥabs of a single house or of several houses, and after proper seisin he occupies most of them, the entire endowment becomes null. Should he reside only in a small part—one-third or less—the ḥabs remains effective over all of it. When the endowed property consists of several separate houses and he lives in only a small portion, the whole ḥabs is valid; but if he inhabits a large portion, it is all void, both the part he used and the part he did not. Ibn al-Qāsim holds that any house in which he lives becomes void, whether the portion is small or large, while the ḥabs stands for whatever he does not occupy, again whether small or large. This ruling concerns a ḥabs made for a minor child, for an incompetent adult, or for anyone who remains under the donor’s guardianship.

If the father sets up a ḥabs for an adult child consisting of one or several houses, the father dwelling in only a small part and the adult child taking possession of the greater part, the endowment is valid with respect to both the occupied and unoccupied portions. But if the father resides in the larger part and the adult child takes possession only of what remains, the ḥabs is valid solely for the portion the child has received and invalid for what he has not. Some have even said that it is invalid for the child’s share as well when that share is small.

When a man endows a ḥabs for “his children and his children’s children,” or “his progeny and the progeny of his progeny,” the offspring of his daughters have no right to that ḥabs unless he explicitly names and includes them; it is reserved for his sons and his sons’ sons in the male line as long as they continue to descend. This is the view held by the majority of the scholars of Medina, and their proof is the Divine statement: “Allah instructs you concerning your children” (Q 4:11). The scholars unanimously agree that this verse does not include