For whom can a valid endowment be established?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Endowments (Awqaf) and Donations
Primary text
An endowment is valid only if established for an ascertainable recipient, such as one's children, relatives, or a specific named person. It can also be established for acts of piety ('birr'), such as building mosques, bridges, establishing libraries for jurisprudence, knowledge, or the Qur'an, establishing cemeteries, providing water sources (saqayāt), or for the path of God (sabil Allah).
Supporting text
An endowment is invalid if made for an unascertainable recipient, such as stating "for a man and a woman," because endowment entails transferring ownership of the corpus or its usufruct, which requires specificity similar to sale or lease.