Endowment: Continuing an Endowment When Current Beneficiaries Relinquish Their Rights
Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei
Endowment: Continuing an Endowment When Current Beneficiaries Relinquish Their Rights
English:
Question #2064:
Some property was held in trust for the exclusive benefit of the male children/offspring of a donor for generations to come. Should the endowment cease as a result of the beneficiaries relinquishing, for any reason, their rights in the endowment? How should the succeeding generations react to this relinquishment? What should the position of the shar‘ī trustee of the endowment vis-à-vis the rights of future generations be?
Answer #2064:
The endowment does not cease to exist by the beneficiaries’ foregoing their rights. Such relinquishment by the former generation should not affect the rights of the succeeding generations. Nor should it render the endowment redundant. When their turn to benefit from the endowment comes, the succeeding generations have every right to demand their share in full. Even if it was legally permissible for the older generation to sell the property held in trust, they should have bought a replacement property for the benefit of the future generations. The trustee should run the endowment with the interest of all the generations at heart.
-Imam Khamenei, Practical Laws of Islam, Importance and Conditions of Endowments