when another asset proves to be sounder than it and more beneficial to the beneficiaries, two reports are transmitted from Imām Aḥmad. The better-known of the two forbids selling the waqf or exchanging it; the second permits it, and this was the preference of Shaykh al-Islām. The courts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia follow this latter view: if the judge is convinced that selling or substituting the waqf will bring clear advantage or benefit, he authorizes it and grants the administrator permission to proceed; if not, he refuses.

In such cases the administrator should not act on his own initiative. He must present the matter to the judge, who will strive to determine what is in the best interest, for here the possibility of right and wrong exists and the judge’s decision removes liability from the administrator. Allah knows best.

This, in fact, is the current practice in the Kingdom’s courts: no waqf is sold without the sanction of the sharʿī judge, and the decision is further reviewed by the Judicial Council in the Court of Appeal to ensure that it conforms to Sharīʿah principles before it is ratified. Without this procedure, no transaction that transfers ownership of the waqf is allowed.

Chapter on Gifts

A gift (hibah)—with a short i and light b—is, in Sharīʿah terminology, a transfer of ownership during one’s lifetime without compensation. The term hibah encompasses many varieties:

1. An unrestricted present (hadīyah)
2. The remittance of a debt
3. A charitable donation (ṣadaqah)
4. A grant (ʿaṭiyyah)
5. A reciprocal gift (hibat al-thawāb)

Yet there are distinctions among them:

• An outright gift is intended purely to endear the donor to the recipient.
• Ṣadaqah is given solely for reward in the Hereafter.
• ʿAṭiyyah is a gift made while the donor is in a life-threatening illness; in most rulings it resembles a bequest.
• A gift of debt occurs when the creditor releases the debtor from what he owes.
• A reciprocal gift is offered with the expectation of receiving compensation; it is a type of sale and follows the rulings of sale.

When the word hibah is used without qualification, it refers to the first category.

Gifts yield many benefits and noble aims: extending kindness, mutual assistance, and fostering affection. The hadith says, “Exchange gifts and you will love one another,” especially when the gift is given to a relative, a neighbor, or someone with whom one has had hostility. In such cases many advantages are realized, and the act becomes a lofty form of worship that removes what is in hearts and strengthens the bonds of kinship and neighborliness. The Sharīʿah seeks everything that brings about goodness and rectitude.