Q: A man's mother
made a Waqf (endowment) that provides food for fasting people in a Masjid (mosque) in their village. He says the Waqf is no longer serving its purpose and he intends to sell it to spend its money on restoring a Masjid because there are few fasting people in the Masjid.
A:
If the reality is as mentioned by the person requesting this Fatwa, that the Waqf is no longer serving its purpose, then if the Waqf no longer generates revenue or there is no other means to pay to restore the Waqf, the supervisor of the Waqf may see the judge of his region to take his permission to sell a part of the Waqf to pay for the restoration of the rest of the Waqf. As regards spending the revenue of the Waqf on purposes other than those specified by the endower, it is not permissible as long as the revenue is spent on a permissible purpose and as long as this purpose still exists. Since the person requesting a Fatwa mentions that there are few fasting people in the Masjid, it is not permissible to spend the revenue of Waqf on other than this purpose as specified by the endower. (Part No. 16; Page No. 143) May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.