Is endowment (Waqf) valid when designated for someone who does not possess full legal ownership?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Endowments (Awqaf) and Donations
Primary text
Endowment is invalid when designated for someone who lacks possession, such as a slave ('abd qin), the mother of a child ('umm walad), a Mudabbar (a slave designated for manumission upon the master's death), a deceased person, a fetus, jinn, or devils. Imam Ahmad stated regarding one who endows property to his slaves that the endowment is invalid unless he first emancipates them. This invalidity stems from the principle that endowment constitutes vesting of ownership, which cannot be validly conferred upon one who does not possess ownership rights.
Supporting text
The validity of endowment upon mosques and public water sources is permissible because the endowment is fundamentally designated for the benefit of Muslims, even though the specific object of the endowment is designated for a particular benefit for them. If endowment were permissible for churches, designated for the People of the Book (Ahl al-Dhimmah), it would be rejected because the intended purpose (the church itself) is not a source of permissible benefit but rather an act of forbidden disobedience (ma'siyah muharramah), which would increase their punishment and sin, unlike mosques.