Fatwa no. 17 Praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the Final Prophet.The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta' has read the question submitted by the Head of Al-Bahah Court under no. 4759, dated 6/11/1391 A.H. to His Eminence the Chairman of the Departments of Scholarly Research, Ifta', Da`wah and Guidance, which was referred by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars, no. 2/39, dated 13/1/1392 A.H. The question is: (Part No. 16; Page No. 120) Please find the plea of Muhammad ibn Ahmad Mahiyah Al-`Abbas, attached thereto is the report of his property which he wants to declare as a Waqf (endowment) by force of Deed no. 152, dated 11/7/1391 A.H. in the way he referred to in his attached Waqf document. Please, Your Eminence, advise us concerning this application, as many similar applications are submitted to us, and we do not agree on them.Having read the application of Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mahiyah Al-`Abbas, we found the following text: "I would like to declare my property as Waqf and dedicate its revenue to my descendants. I have brought an official report and declared the whole of my property, which is proved to be mine by force of the mentioned report, as Waqf, according to the stipulations mentioned herein. I would like you to have a look at the attached report, approve it, register it and issue a legal deed."

Having reviewed the question and the attachments, the Committee answered as follows: "It was mentioned in the Waqf document that Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mahiyah declared in front of witnesses that he made the whole of his property, including the house, (Part No. 16; Page No. 121) in the abovementioned country located in Al-`Abbas Valley village, as Waqf to his son Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahiyah and his male descendants as long as they procreate. If one of them deceases, it returns to the nearest agnate relatives. If all of them decease, it shall be spent on Masjids (mosques), the poor and the needy. He shall provide support, clothing and accommodation in the mentioned house for those who are unmarried among his daughters, granddaughters and his son's descendants. As for those who are married or have dependent sons, they have a gift on every occasion as per the customs of the country. The grandsons of the girls have no share in this." This is an unjust Waqf, because he made Waqf to some of the heirs, and deprived others. If he had declared the whole of his property or more than one third of it as Waqf, it would also be unjust, because it entails depriving the heirs of their legal shares. This is considered transgression of the limits of Allah (Exalted be He). It is known to you that unjust Waqf should probably be banned and, therefore, we signed to this. May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and Companions.