Endowment: Can Endowed Derelict Land Be Seized as Mawāt?**

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Endowment: Can Endowed Derelict Land Be Seized as Mawāt?**

English:

Question #2047:

The Municipal Authority leased, from the shar‘ī trustee of an endowment, two irrigation canals that pass through some arable land. The third canal, which was held in trust for the benefit of theology students of the neighborhood and the offspring of the donor, has dried up. As a result, the land surrounding it became bāyir (derelict). The Lands Authority wants to take control of the land considering it as mawāt because it was not cultivated for many years. Can this be right?

Answer #2047:

The land held in trust cannot be stripped of its title as a result of leaving it uncultivated, even for years on end.

-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Endowments