Different kinds of Charity!
Praise be to Allah. Ongoing charity is the waqf
(“Islamic endowment”) which may take many forms. The
definition of a waqf is that the origin is “frozen”
and the fruits are donated for the sake of Allah, as
was narrated by al-Bukhaari (2737) and Muslim (1633)
from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), that
‘Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him)
was given a share of land at Khaybar. He came to the
Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be
upon him) and asked him what he should do with it.
He said: “O Messenger of Allah, I have been given a
share of land at Khaybar and I have never been given
any wealth that is more precious to me than it. What
do you command me to do with it?” He said: “If you
wish, you can ‘freeze’ it and give it in charity.”
So ‘Umar gave it in charity and stipulated that it
was not to be sold, given as a gift or inherited,
and he gave it in charity to the poor, relatives and
slaves, for the sake of Allah and for wayfarers and
guests; there was no sin on the one appointed to
look after it if he ate from it on a reasonable
basis, and fed others without storing anything for
the future.”
Ibn Maajah (242) narrated that Abu Hurayrah said:
“The good deeds that will reach a believer after his
death are: knowledge which he learned and then
spread; a righteous son whom he leaves behind; a
copy of the Quran that he leaves as a legacy; a
mosque that he built; a house that he built for
wayfarers; a canal that he dug; or charity that he
gave during his lifetime when he was in good health.
These deeds will reach him after his death.” This
Hadith was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh
Ibn Maajah.
Ongoing charity may mean building a mosque, buying
Mushafs (copies of the Quran) to be placed in the
mosque, or designating a house or a place as a waqf
so that its income is spent on the poor, orphans,
relatives, seekers of knowledge or others as
stipulated by the one who establishes the waqf, or
donating money to build a charitable hospital, and
so on.
With regard to charity that is not ongoing, this is
charity in which the thing given is not “frozen”,
rather it is given to the poor to become his
property and be made use of however he wishes, such
as giving him money, food, clothing, medicine or
furniture.
If a person establishes a mosque as a waqf, then it
is destroyed or falls down, it is permissible to
sell part of it in order to renovate the rest. If it
is not possible to make use of any part of it, then
the whole thing may be sold and the money donated to
another waqf. Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on
him) said: “If a waqf is destroyed and nothing is
left of it, it may be sold and the money used to buy
something to be given back to the people in charge
of the waqf, and it should be made a waqf like the
first one was. The same applies to a horse kept for
jihad, if it is no longer fit for fighting, it
should be sold and the money used to buy another one
that is fit for jihad. What we conclude from this is
that if a waqf is destroyed and is no longer of any
use, such as a house that collapses or land that is
ruined and becomes dead and no longer fit for
cultivation, or a mosque from which the people move
away, and is now in a place where people do not
pray, or it becomes too small for the people and
cannot accommodate them all, or it falls into
disrepair, and it cannot be maintained except by
selling part of it, then it is permissible to sell
part of it in order to take care of the maintenance
of the rest of it. If it is not possible to use any
part of it, then the whole thing may be sold. Ahmad
said, according to a report narrated by Abu Dawood:
if there are two pieces of wood in the mosque which
are of some value, it is permissible to sell them
and spend the money raised on the mosque. According
to a report narrated by Saalih: the mosque may be
removed to another location if there is the fear of
it being robbed or if the location is in a filthy
area. Al-Qaadi said: i.e., if that prevents people
from praying there. And he stated that it is
permissible to sell its courtyard, according to a
report narrated by ‘Abd-Allah. The imam should give
testimony to that effect (i.e., that these changes
are necessary)
From al-Mughni, 5/368 & So long as the waqf is still
in existence, the reward for its founder will be
ongoing; the same is also true if the original waqf
is sold and the money put into a new waqf. Whoever
builds a mosque will have the reward promised for
that. This is what is narrated in the words of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
“Whoever builds a mosque for the sake of Allah, even
if it is like the nest of a sand grouse, Allah will
build for him a house in Paradise.” The hadeeth
gives an example of building the smallest thing
possible. Narrated by Ahmad, 2157; classed as saheeh
by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’. And Allah knows
best .
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