Imam AlBouti
The Glorious Legislation of Endowments
In the History of Islamic Civilisation and Looking for a
Means to Bring it Back
By Imam Muḥammad Saʿīd Ramaḍān al Bouti, may Allah have
mercy on him1
Translated by Mahdi Lock
One of the matters that are not subject to any debate or discussion is the firm and
permanent inseparability between the Revealed Law of Islam and the reality of human
interests…indeed it is an inseparability that is in force between two sides. Thus,
whenever an actual benefit appears in front of you which brings goodness to man or
prevents evil from reaching him, it is inevitable that you will find in this humane
Revealed Law that it has been adopted and called for, and whenever your eyes fall upon a
ruling of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, in His eternal Revealed Law, then you will
inevitably find that it brings some goodness to man which makes him happy and that it
averts some evil from him that would make him wretched.
Often, it is the ruling of the Revealed Law that draws attention to the human or
social benefit found within it such that if Allah had not addressed His slaves with that
ruling they would have never become aware of that benefit, which is indispensable for
the propriety of their lives. Maybe most rulings of the Revealed Law are like this.
And maybe the opposite is the case. People are aware of a benefit that is
indispensable with regards to their individual or social lives and thus Allah legislates
rulings for them that allow them to arrive at that benefit. You can find several examples
of this in the āyāt of rulings2 which were revealed at specific occasions, for their effect
was to respond to certain needs and realise certain benefits or to ward off certain harms
and evils.
One of the most prominent examples of the first category is the legislation of
endowments and their system. I don’t think there is anyone amongst mankind who hasn’t
noticed the importance of the benefit that this legislation guarantees, as well as the lofty
level of civilisation that this unique system expresses by illustrating the highest
manifestations of social solidarity.3
Nevertheless, humanity – on all levels – did not become aware of their need for
this exemplary path towards laying down a system of social solidarity4 between them
until after Allah, Mighty and Majestic, had informed them of this legislation of
endowments and made them accountable for it.
The Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, was the first founder of this Revealed
Law and it laid down this system. Then the immaculate Prophetic Sunnah took up the
role of explaining it and supervising its implementation. Then it was the role of the
imams of the Islamic Revealed Law, which was that of sound, meticulous personal
1
(tn): Translated from the book Qaḍāyā Fiqhiyyah Muʿāṣirah (Damascus: Dār al-Fārābī, 2009), p.229-242
Ar. āyāt al-aḥkām
3
Ar. al-takāful al-ijtimāʿī
4
Ar. al-taḍāmun al-ijtimāʿī
2
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Imam AlBouti
reasoning5 with regards to applying it towards interests and deriving its various types and
situations, facilitating its application towards the broadest social sphere and extracting the
greatest number of social and economic benefits from it.
As for the role of founding, it was the virtue of drawing attention to this benefit,
revealing the extent of its importance and illustrating the broadest legislative example of
it, and thus it is manifestly clear in the four āyāt in Sūrat al-Ḥashr that were revealed in
order to clarify the ruling concerning the lands that Allah had granted the Muslims as
booty6 from the Jews of the Banū Naḍīr. It is the statement of Allah the Exalted:
{Whatever booty Allah gives to His Messenger from city dwellers belongs to
Allah and to the Messenger, to near relatives and orphans and the poor and travellers, so
that it does not become something that merely circulates between the rich among you.
Whatever the Messenger gives you, you should accept, and whatever he forbids you, you
should forgo. Have taqwā of Allah – Allah is severe in retribution. It is for the poor
amongst the Emigrants7 who were driven from their homes and wealth, desiring the
favour of and the pleasure of Allah and supporting Allah and His Messenger. Such
people are the truly sincere. Those who were already settled in the abode, and in faith,
before they came, love those who have emigrated to them and do not find in their hearts
any need for what they have been given and prefer them to themselves, even if they
themselves are needy. It is the people who are safeguarded from the avarice of their own
selves who are successful. Those who have come after them say, ‘Our Lord, forgive us
and our brothers who preceded us in faith and do not put any rancour in our hearts
towards those who believe. Our Lord, you are Forgiving, Most Merciful.} [Sūrat al-Ḥashr
59:7-10]
Thus, these four āyāt are considered the foundational text for the legitimacy of
endowments and for clarifying the importance of the benefit that results from it and
drawing attention to the difference between endowments and other forms of charity.
Indeed you can see how Allah, Mighty and Majestic, commanded that the wealth
that was to remain be retained8 and its essence would not be consumed by being used,
which was the land and real estate that Allah had granted the Muslims as fayʾ. Their
ownership would never be transferred and their original articles would never be disposed
of. Instead, their proceeds9 would be spent on the interests of the Muslims and on them as
individuals throughout the ages, one generation after another, starting with the Emigrants
and then the Helpers10 and then those who would come after them until the establishment
of the Hour, if possible, so that all of these generations could share in benefitting from the
their proceeds and acquiring their fruits and treasures.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb understood this clear meaning from these āyāt and he cited
them as proof when he decreed that the rural area of Iraq11 and the lands of Egypt be
retained and not owned12 or circulated so that their proceeds could continue to be an
5
Ar. ijtihād
(tn): In this case it was fayʾ, i.e. war booty that is acquired without fighting
7
Ar. al-muhājirūn
8
Ar. ḥabs, which is another word for waqf
9
Ar. kharāj, which is the same term for ‘land tax’ in the Revealed Law; please see Sheikh Muḥammad alZuḥaylī’s al-Muʿtamad (Damascus: Dār al-Qalam, 1434/2013), v.5, p.111-113 for further details
10
Ar. al-Anṣār
11
Ar. sawād al-ʿIrāq
12
(tn): i.e. by a human being
6
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Imam AlBouti
ongoing charity13 that the Muslims would benefit from them throughout the ages, and the
majority of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah be pleased with them,
supported him in this.
Abū ʿUbaydah has related from Mālik ibn Aws ibn al-Ḥadathān on the authority
of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb that on the day some of the Companions asked him to distribute
the rural area of Iraq amongst the fighters, he recited this statement of Allah the Exalted:
{Know that when you take any booty, a fifth of it belongs to Allah.} [Sūrat al-Anfāl
8:41] He said, ‘This is for them’, and then recited the Exalted’s statement: {Charity is for
the poor…}14 [Sūrat al-Tawba 9:60]
Then he said, ‘And this is for them’. Then he recited Allah the Exalted’s
statement, {Whatever booty Allah gives to His Messenger from city dwellers belongs to
Allah and to the Messenger, to near relatives…} [Sūrat al-Ḥashr 59:7] up until He said: {
It is for the poor amongst the Emigrants who were driven from their homes…} [59:8] and
then: { Those who were already settled in the abode, and in faith…} [59:9] followed by:
{ Those who have come after them…} [59:10]. He then said, ‘This āyah has embraced
everyone, and thus there is no Muslim remaining except that he has a right therein.’15
The majority of the Companions supported ʿUmar in this and thus the lands of
Egypt and Iraq became an endowment for the Muslims based on a ruling from the Book
of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and thus they were retained and not circulated and their
proceeds were extracted for the Muslims throughout the following eras and centuries.
Imam Mālik went with what these āyāt indicate and what ʿUmar decreed based on
them. Abū Ḥanīfah, Aḥmad and al-Thawrī did likewise except that the Imam16 should
intend benefit by doing so, and this is close to the school17 of Mālik. Al-Shāfiʿī was
unique in adopting the position that it is obligatory to distribute the land, just like all
other booty, 18 amongst the fighters.
In summary, there are thus two schools on the issue:
- The first is the school of the majority, which states that it is not an obligation
upon the Imam to distribute the land amongst the fighters, regardless of whether
we say that it is to be an endowment merely by being taken over or we say that
the Imam must seek benefit for the Muslims therein.
- The second is the school of al-Shāfiʿī, which states that it is an obligation to
distribute it amongst those who fought, unless the Imam seeks their permission.19
Therefore, these āyāt, which are the foundation for the legislation of endowments
and draw attention to their importance and the benefit therein, also draw attention to the
fact that Muslims must use their facilities and economic institutions to make watering
places that are as firm and long-lasting as possible, so that all Muslims, generation after
generation, can drink from their proceeds and treasures.
Ar. ṣadaqah jāriyah
Ar. innama al-ṣadaqāt lil-fuqarāʾ, meaning zakāt in this āyah
15
(tn): This can be found in Imam Ibn Kathīr’s commentary (Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm) of Sūrat al-Ḥashr
59:10 (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1423/2002), v.4, p.2857
16
(tn): i.e. the caliph, or ruler
17
Ar. madhhab
18
Ar. al-ghanāʾim, which is the word for booty that is gained from fighting, as opposed to fayʾ
19
(tn): i.e. he asks their permission not to distribute the lands amongst them, and if they grant it then it is
not an obligation.
13
14
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Imam AlBouti
It is needless to say that this kind of ongoing social solidarity between generations
of Muslim by way of a just and merciful inheritance20 is only known by the Ummah of
Islam, from ancient times through to modern times, based on guidance and enlightenment
from Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
expanded the scope of application of this humane and blessed legislation and did not
leave it to be confined to a policy that Muslim rulers must adopt with regard to the fayʾ
and the ghanāʾim. Rather, he advised individual Muslims to set aside a share of their
charitable wealth for this legislation, and he called it ‘ongoing charity’ 21. Then he
clarified by way of the numerous instructions he gave to the Companions that it can be
any kind of wealth which will not be consumed when it is used, even if the progression of
time and much usage will eventually lead to it being consumed, such as houses, plots of
land, riding beasts, household effects, furniture and water springs.
From this we have the statement of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, as related by Muslim, and al-Bukhārī in Adab al-Mufrad, from the
ḥadīth of Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him: {When a human being dies, his
deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that is benefitted from
and a righteous child who supplicates for him.}
We also have what has been related by the two Sheikhs22 from the ḥadīth of
ʿUmar, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him, in which he acquired some land from
Khaybar and then went to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to ask
what to do with it. He said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, I have acquired some land from
Khaybar and I have never acquired wealth that is more precious to me than this’ He said,
{If you want, you can retain its foundation and give charity from it}, so ʿUmar gave from
it on the condition that its foundation23 wold not be sold, transferred by way of
inheritance24 or given away, and there would be no harm in the one who has custody of it
to eat from it in goodness or feed a friend who is not wealthy.
Thereupon, this sunnah spread amongst the Companions of Allah’s Messenger,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and thus one of them would retain some land
or camel that he had, or some weapons, and thus their original articles would not be
disposed of. Then they would give charity towards causes that could be benefitted from
so that the path to this would continue to be ongoing, beyond one’s death. An example of
this is what has been related by the Sheikhs concerning the Messenger of Allah pushing
ʿUmar to give in charity and also the Messenger of Allah saying, {As for Khālid, indeed
you are oppressing Khālid, for indeed he has retained25 his coat of mail and his war
equipment.}26
20
(tn): not in the legal sense but in the sense of being passed down from one generation to the next
Ar. ṣadaqah jāriyah
22
(tn): i.e. Al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their Ṣaḥīḥ collections
23
(tn): i.e. the property itself
24
(tn): Narrated by Al-Bukhārī in the Book of Conditions (shurūṭ) in the section on the conditions of
endowment, no.2737, and parts of it are in no.2764 and 2772, as well as Muslim in the Book of Bequests in
the section of endowment, no.1633, from the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullah ibn ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with
both of them.
25
(tn): i.e. as an endowment
26
Imam al-Nawawī explains: ‘The meaning of the ḥadīth is that they demanded Khālid pay zakāt on his
war equipment because they thought he was using it for trade, and thus zakāt therein would be obligatory,
but he said to them, ‘I don’t owe you any zakāt.’ They therefore said to the Prophet, may Allah bless him
21
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Imam AlBouti
Another example is what has been related by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd and al-Ḥākim
from the ḥadīth of Umm Maʿqil al-Asadiyyah in which her husband dedicated a bakr for
Allah’s cause. She wanted to perform the ʿumrah27 so she asked him about the bakr and
he said to her, ‘I have retained it28 for Allah’s cause.’
A bakr is a young camel.
There is also the ḥadīth of Abū Ṭalḥah in which he made an endowment out of his
most beloved property, Bayruḥāʾ; a well-known ongoing charity for Allah.29
And so forth, and only a few years passed before Islamic society in the Arabian
Peninsula and surrounding areas became full of pecuniary properties30 of a unique kind,
the like of which is not known to human civilisations and societies that stray from
Islam…properties, but no one owns them such that they can dispose of their original
articles. Rather, their proceeds and means of being benefitted from are directed towards
causes for whose sake their owners have retained them, such as the poor, widows,
orphans, animals that can no longer work, etc.
This topic became the concern of the mujtahid imams of the Revealed Law and
Islamic jurisprudence, and they marched forward in establishing a relationship between it
and the social interests for which it had been legislated. They exposed the problems that
were connected to and responded to them, and it didn’t take long before this topic came
to form a large chapter of jurisprudence with all sorts of particular branches and issues,
all of them interacting with the Islamic society’s system and its interests.
First of all, the jurists asked about how to attribute the ownership of the dedicated
article.31 Is it the cause for whose benefit the endower has intended, such as the poor,
orphans and so forth?32 Or does its ownership remain with the owner who made the
endowment? Or is the ownership attributed to Allah, Mighty and Majestic?
Imam al-Shāfiʿī took the position that the ownership of the dedicated article is
attributed to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as that it what necessitates the unlawfulness of
it being disposed of, i.e. in terms of its original article, by both the endower owner and
the beneficiary. If ownership were established for either one of them that would require
that it be permissible for that owner to dispose of it.
Both Imams Mālik and Abū Ḥanīfah chose the position that ownership of the
dedicated article remains with the owner who made it an endowment, and they inferred
this from the fact the reward continues for the endower as long as the dedicated article
and grant him peace, ‘Khālid is withholding his zakāt.’ He replied by telling them that they were
oppressing Khālid because he had retained and dedicated it for the sake of Allah before a year had passed
and therefore he didn’t have to pay any zakāt on it. It is possible that what is meant is had it been obligatory
upon him to pay zakāt he would have given it. He wasn’t tight-fisted with it because he had dedicated it to
Allah the Exalted in charity, so how could be tight-fisted with something that was obligatory upon him?
Some scholars have derived from this the obligation to pay zakāt on trade goods, and this is what the
majority of scholars have gone with from both the salaf and the khalaf, disagreeing with Dāwūd [AlẒāhirī]. This ḥadīth also contains proof for the validity of making endowments and the validity of
dedicating movable property, and this is the position of the entire Ummah with the exception of Abū
Ḥanīfah and some of the Kufans.’ [Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim bi Sharḥ Al-Nawawī Beirut: Dār Al-Kutub Al-ʿIlmiyyah,
2003), v.7, p.49]
27
(tn): i.e. the lesser pilgrimage
28
(tn): i.e. as an endowment
29
(tn): a well-known garden, as mentioned by Imam Ibn Ḥajar in Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj bi Sharḥ al-Minhāj
(Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 2011), v.2, p.488
30
Ar. mumtalakāt māliyyah
31
Ar. al-ʿayn al-mawqūfah
32
(tn) i.e. does the beneficiary of the endowment own the dedicated article
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Imam AlBouti
continues to exist and people are still able to benefit from it. If the owner’s ownership
were cut off that would require that the reward for it also be cut off.
As for Imam Aḥmad, he was of the opinion that the ownership is transferred to
the beneficiary, in view of the fact that that is who benefits from it. Therefore, the
perpetual receipt of benefit from the pecuniary article is the clearest proof that the source
of this benefitting is ownership. The Ḥanbalīs hold the position that ownership can never
be completely removed,33 and thus if something is owned it remains owned, even if its
ownership is transferred from one agency to another.
Then the jurists asked about another issue, which is: is the endowment given the
description of adherence,34 i.e. such that it is not permissible to dispose of the dedicated
article – after the endowment has been made – until the Day of Resurrection? This would
include selling, buying, giving it as a gift, attaching conditions to it, inheriting it or
renting it for the benefit of the endower, regardless of whether this is done by the owner
who made the endowment, by the beneficiary of the endowment or by the state, and thus
do we say this regardless of whether we hold the position that the ownership of the
dedicated article remains with the endower or do we say that it is transferred to the
beneficiary?
The majority of jurists have agreed upon the adherence of the dedicated article
and that the propriety of disposing of the dedicated article is cut off from the moment the
owner makes it an endowment. Abū Ḥanīfah, may Allah have mercy on him, was unique
in holding the position that the right of the owner to dispose of the dedicated article
remains constant, for he sees endowments to be like lending something for use,35 and
what they have in common is that ownership is constant for both the endower and the
lender of the goods that are dedicated as an endowment or loaned, and one of the
requirements of ownership is that the right of disposal of the owned item is established.
Abū Ḥanīfah made one exception to the generality of this ruling, which is the
situation in which the ruler records the endowment in the official register or the owner
attaches the endowment to his death,36 and in this way the endowment takes on the
attribute of adherence and comes under the category of bequests.37
The majority inferred their position regarding the prohibition of disposing of the
dedicated article from the fact that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
only distinguished the endowment that he suggested to ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with
him, from other charitable and philanthropic acts by the fact that the right of disposal of
the dedicated article is removed while benefit is acquired from it as long as it remains,
and thus if the owner continued to have the right of disposal there would be no difference
between endowments and lending and all other pecuniary means of drawing nearer to
Allah, and therefore what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, proposed did not have a distinct meaning. If we notice the social benefit that
Allah’s speech alludes to in Sūrat al-Ḥashr and which became the axis around which the
rules and issues of endowments revolved then there is no way to avoid what the majority
33
(tn): i.e. contrary to the Shāfiʿī position
Ar. al-luzūm
35
Ar. al-ʿāriyah
36
(tn): i.e. it becomes an endowment after his death
37
Ar. al-waṣiyyah
34
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Imam AlBouti
have gone with, i.e. the adherence of the endowment and the cutting off of the right of
disposal with regards to the dedicated article.
On the other hand, if we notice that most dedicated real estate and land38 has
recently been registered, with their numbers and specifications, in the state register under
the ministries of endowments and their care and protection has come under the
supervision and authority of the state, then the difference of opinion between the Ḥanafīs
and the majority over the issue becomes a difference in wording only. Thus, the right of
disposal regarding the original article is removed from everything that the ruler has ruled
to be a dedicated article, by consensus and without any difference of opinion. If we know
this, we realise that what some administrators of endowments have done in the past, such
as selling dedicated properties for some more suitable reason or maybe no reason at all,
was an invalid and unlawful action in the Revealed Law. May Allah have mercy on Imam
al-Nawawī, for al-Sakhāwī related in his biography that he wouldn’t eat any of the fruits
in the ghūṭah39 of Damascus since he knew that many of the plots of land in the ghūṭah
were endowments and with the passing of time they had come to no longer be
distinguished from the other plots of lands because the hand of disposal had been
extended to them.40
The new issue that preoccupies the minds of many who are concerned today with
social activities, especially that which is connected to the essential factors of social
solidarity in accordance with the Islamic vision, is looking at the extent to which it is
possible to subjugate money41 and the currencies that come under it to the ruling of
endowments and their system, both of which have been explained.
In other words, what is the position of the Islamic Revealed Law with regards to
setting up a fund – for goodly loans42 – such that this fund is utilised to meet the needs of
the poor and indigent, not by way of a gift or charity but by way of a goodly loan that
will keep going without interruption?
The answer to this question in itself is clear and there is no ambiguity regarding it.
The owner of the wealth is rewarded for the balance that he gives to meet those needs by
way of a goodly loan, and indeed the reward he gets from meeting that need, seeking
Allah’s pleasure, is greater than the reward he would get by giving the same money in
charity, as has been authentically related from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace.
However, the question that results from this is: is there a way of adapting this
deed in accordance with the Revealed Law so that it can be a fund for goodly loans, i.e.
the specifications and rulings of endowment are applied to it, such that the ruling that it is
unlawful to dispose of the original article of this wealth applies to this wealth so that it
cannot be consumed or lost by any legislated means, whether done by the owner of the
wealth himself or any other individual for any other justification as long as the wealth
exists?
38
(tn): i.e. lands and real estate dedicated as endowments
(tn): i.e. the fertile oasis on the south side of Damascus
40
(tn): i.e. these endowments were violated before, such that by his time, may Allah have mercy on him,
the dedicated plots of land were indistinguishable from the other plots of land
41
Ar. al-nuqūd, which is the plural of naqd
42
Ar. qarḍ ḥasan
39
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Imam AlBouti
Indeed the difficulty that sets money43 apart, as well as the paper currencies that
carry their ruling, from pecuniary articles44 that are permissible to make into endowments
is that money can only be benefitted from by spending it and substituting it with the
intended beneficial use.45 The borrower who is given from this wealth in order to benefit
from it by acquiring what he needs will not be able to return the exact same wealth that
he took from the lender, but he will be able to return that which is equivalent to it as
substitute.46
Thus, can the substitute take the place of the original and in terms of the ruling be
considered the original article, and therefore it would be permissible to make it an
endowment just as a garden or real estate and the like can be made into an endowment?
Or can it not take its place, and thus its ruling is like the ruling of food that is consumed
by eating and therefore it would not be permissible to make it an endowment?
Most Ḥanafīs, along with the early Mālikīs, inclined towards the opinion that the
exchange that takes place with money, as well as the paper currencies in circulation that
carry its ruling, has no consideration, as there is no objective attached to the dirham itself
that is in the possession of its owner, just as there is no objective attached to the Syrian
lira, the Egyptian pound or the American dollar, for example, when it comes into a
person’s possession. For the owner, its ruling is the same as its equivalents,47 and thus
whatever circulation or exchange occurs with money and that which carries its ruling,
consideration is given to the monetary mass that carries the ruling of endowments, and
thus making it into an endowment is allowed in the Revealed Law, and it is not permitted
to do anything with it, or even part of it, that would lead to it being annihilated.
He48 said in Jawāhir al-Iklīl ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, ‘It is permissible with regards
to dinars and dirhams to lend them to those who need them and have their equivalent
returned in their place as an endowment.’ Then he said, ‘This is the school of the
Mudawwanah.’49
He50 said in Tanwīr al-Abṣār, ‘It is also valid to make an endowment out of
anything movable that people commercially transact, such as an axe or adx, indeed
dirhams and dinars, and I say ‘indeed’ as the matter was put before the judges for a
ruling…and regarding everything that is measured and distributed. It is sold and its price
43
(tn): Here the Imam uses the term naqdayn, which literally means the two naqds, i.e. gold and silver.
Imam Ḥasan al-Kāf explains, ‘Naqd is gold and silver and likewise the monetary notes that stand in their
place nowadays, such as riyals and dollars.’ [al-Taqrīrāt al-Saḍīdah: Qism al-ʿIbādāt (Tarīm: Dār alMīrāth al-Nabawī, n.d.), p.410]
44
(tn): i.e. things that hold monetary value and/or generate monetary value
45
Ar. manfaʿah, i.e. the benefit of money is that it is a means of exchange; it is not a good or service in and
of itself but can be used to acquire goods and services
46
(tn): i.e. if someone borrows ten dirhams and then spends them, they cannot be expected to return the
exact same ten dirhams
47
(tn): In other words, a dirham is just like any other dirham and a dollar is just like any other dollar.
48
(tn): Muḥammad al-Amīr al-Kabīr, a great Mālikī scholar of al-Azhar who died in 1232 AH
49
(tn): i.e. the Mudawwanah of Imam Saḥnūn ibn Saʿīd Al-Tanūkhī, who was born in the city of Kairouan
in 160 AH and studied with its greatest scholars before travelling to seek knowledge in Egypt, the Levant
and the Ḥijāz. He returned to Kairouan in 191 and worked towards spreading the Mālikī madhhab in Africa
and Andalusia, his most significant work on the subject being Al-Mudawwanah Al-Kubrā, which is a
collection of questions and answers according to the fiqh of that school. He died in Kairouan in the year
240.
50
(tn): i.e. Imam Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdillah ibn Aḥmad al-Ghazzī al-Ḥanafī al-Tamartāshī, who died in
1004 AH.
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Imam AlBouti
is paid for by way of muḍārabah51 or other goods. Based on this, if one were to dedicate
a karr – meaning a measure of wheat for example – on the condition that he lends it so
that he can cultivate it for himself and when that is realised he takes its amount and lends
it to someone else, would this be permissible.’
Ibn ʿĀbidīn said in supercommentary,52 commenting on these words, ‘I have said
that dirhams are not specified to be specified, for even though they cannot be benefitted
from while the original article remains, their substitutes take their place because they
can’t be specified, and thus it’s as if they remain.}
Therefore, it has been made clear to you from what the Ḥanafīs say that even with
regards to goods that are measured and weighed and which are consumed, such as grains,
there is no objection to a needy borrower consuming the original article that is measured
or weighed, which he has borrowed, and then returning the equivalent of what he has
taken to the endower or the administrator of the endowment.
I say that that which the Mālikīs and Ḥanafīs incline towards is what agrees with
the wisdom for which endowments were legislated, especially considering the fact that
we haven’t found anything in the aforementioned Prophetic ḥadīths nor anything else that
has been authentically related from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, that goes against it, i.e. something indicating that the original dedicated
article must remain even if no objective is attached to it and a substitute can take its
place.
How beautiful it would be, and what a humane and beneficial act it would be if
those brethren whom Allah has granted excessive wealth made an endowment out of a
monetary mass which could then move about the ranks of the poor, so that young people
can get married, or be provided with appropriate housing, all in the form of a goodly
loan.
Evidence has been authentically related from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, that offering monetary loans to the needy is more
rewardable than acts of charity in which one’s ownership is cut off from one’s wealth,
and there is a wisdom behind this that would require a whole other discussion.
To proceed, indeed the charitable remnants that spread throughout our lands and
our Islamic societies on the back of the legislation of endowments, whose foundations
were laid down by the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, then commented on and
explained in detail by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace
and then the Companions of the Messenger of Allah competed with each other in
implementing it and applying it, I say that these remnants participated in bringing about
an aspect of civilisation that distinguished this Ummah, and it is something that cannot be
manifested and realised except in this Ummah, which Allah has made the best Ummah
ever brought forth for mankind, in terms of humanity, mutual affection and solidarity.
If we were to visualise our charitable organisations, which have spread throughout
our Islamic countries, as a result of this ongoing charity, we would see something
amazing stirring up frenzy in the soul and exulting this religion from which Allah has
made niches of slavehood and a ladder of civilisation.
(tn): Also known as qirāḍ, this is a business partnership in which one party provides the funding while
the other provides the labour. The profit is shared between them according to what both of them have
stipulated while loss is borne by the partner who provided the funding.
52
Ar. ḥāshiyah
51
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Imam AlBouti
These charitable organisations that have proliferated in response to the call of
Allah’s Book and the guidance of our master, the Messenger of Allah, in various parts of
this Islamic country include the building of dedicated53 hostels and hotels for travellers
and those taking a break that are spread along the roads between remote cities…the
hospices and prayer rooms at which anyone can stop in order to escape from the world
and engage in worship…the houses that have been dedicated exclusively for the poor and
indigent…the watering places that are spread out in areas where water is scarce and in
which there is a great need…the traditional restaurants54 in which all kinds of foods are
prepared for needy people… the many houses for pilgrims in Makkah which were made
as endowments exclusively for pilgrims and their rest, and these houses increased so
much through time that they almost included all the land in Makkah, and it is a matter
that has prompted some jurists to call for a fatwā to be issued declaring it invalid to rent
out houses in Makkah during the Ḥajj season because of them having been dedicated as
endowments for the pilgrims. There are also the wells that have been dug in the vast
deserts and steppes, with their buckets and means of deriving water from them, allowing
the travellers to meet their needs by themselves and to give water to their small cattle and
livestock, and these wells or their remnants can still be found in abundance between
Baghdad and Makkah, between Damascus and Makkah and between Madīnah and the
capital cities of the Islamic world, as well as some towns.
The endowments that were set up included those whose proceeds were for the
benefit of repairing roads and bridges, those whose proceeds were for the benefit of
shrouding the dead and preparing them for burial, not to mention the plots of land that
were dedicated as graveyards for them.
The charitable organisations that are actually endowments include organisations
for foundlings and orphans, others for the infirm, blind and physically disabled, allowing
them to live a life of dignity and comfort. Other organisations were set up to help young,
single men and women get married, those who lacked the funds and their means55 to get
married…and we have seen what was mentioned by Dr Muṣṭafā al-Sibāʿī, may Allah
have mercy on him, in his book Min Rawāʾiʿ Ḥaḍāratinā56 that one of the charitable
deeds of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Ayyūbī was to make one of the doors of the Citadel, which
remains till today in Damascus, a drainage pipe from which milk flows and another from
which from which sugared water flows, and for two days out of every week mothers
come and take the milk and sugar that they need for their children!
One of the shining examples of these charitable organisations is the Zabādī
endowment for children and servants who have broken dishes while walking in the
streets. They then come to this organisation and take new dishes in exchange for the
broken ones and of the same kind so that they can go back to their homes feeling safe and
at ease.
In Damascus today there is a vast green meadow located to the right of the
entrance to the city from the western side. It was an endowment for riding animals that
had become unable to carry out any work due to old age or illness and thus they lived out
their remaining days in that meadow with plenty to eat and drink.
53
(tn): dedicated as endowments
Ar. al-maṭāʾim al-shaʿbiyyah
55
(tn): i.e. the means of earning
56
(tn): ‘From the Wonders of our [Islamic] Civilisation’
54
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Imam AlBouti
The elderly residents of Damascus know this exemplary, humane image and they
still enjoy remembering it in their minds and imaginations. As for the new generation,
sadly they only see the buildings that have been placed on the rubble of that humane and
wondrous edifice...even though they know that this land was, until recently, a symbol of
human faithfulness towards animals who had continued to serve their owner for as long
as they were strong and healthy, and when they became incapacitated they were
transferred to that land that was rich in plants and drinks so that they could relax therein
without any toil and spend their remaining days with human beings in a state of profit
without loss and rest without fatigue.
I have turned my attention towards the radiant past of our Ummah and mentioned
these examples – and they are just a few of many – in order to appeal to those who are
sincere with Allah and those who covet their noble history, so that they don’t go to
extremes in being detached and estranged from it and that they use it to direct their
present. How valuable is wealth when it is utilised for these glorious deeds and how
cheap is it when it is spent on trivial matters.
Dear brethren, this is just one of the distinguishing characteristics of our
civilisation and an exemplary, shining illustration of our humanity. We have sought
shade from both of them and drunk from their treasures. Once upon a time we were all –
regardless of our class – trustees of this religion, sincere in adhering to it and defending
it, and for its sake we sacrificed our passions, our desires, our tribalism and our shortterm interests.
We look today and nothing remains among us of these distinguishing
characteristics except ruins and remnants.
Where are those hands that would wipe the tears of the orphan, nurse the wounds
of the wounded and gather our entire society in the fortress of universal love and
friendship?
Where are those charitable organisations that should have been preserved until
today because of the sublime legislation that was maintained and renewed inside of
them?
The path to them was invaded and then the force of western civilisation came and
put an end to it, the same civilisation that addresses humanity with the language of
deception and hypocrisy, and we opened our hearts to it…then we allowed it to trample
on our homelands and civilizational attainments…and thus put an end to humane
interaction in our lives and turned our distinguishing characteristics and organisations
into piles of rubble.
Yet, what is the easiest way to bring back this bygone era which can’t be returned
by the hands of time? Yet, what is the easiest way to bring back its greatest
accomplishments…if we bring sincerity back to our interaction with Allah and wake up
the spurs of the call to His religion, loving Him for who He is and sincerely exalting that
which He has made sacred.
It will come back and then our brotherhood with the Muslims from amongst
Allah’s slaves will open, and these charitable organisations will flourish once again and
in harmony with the revival that this Ummah is going through. Allah is the One Who
grants success and none of that is difficult for Allah.

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