Endowment: Dealing with Inherited Water Shares When Some Are Endowed

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Endowment: Dealing with Inherited Water Shares When Some Are Endowed

English:

Question #2042:

I inherited three shares of river water from my father. I have been given to understand that the said shares were part of 100 shares, 15 of which are endowments. It is not known whether the three inherited shares were among the seller’s privately owned shares or constituted part of the 15 endowment shares. What should I do? Should the sale of the three shares be rendered invalid, thus giving me the right to return them to the seller, who is still alive, to refund me the sale price?

Answer #2042:

If, at the time of sale, the seller was the rightful owner of the water shares he sold, even though he did not know that the shares he sold were his own private property or those of the trust, the sale can be ruled valid, the purchaser should be the rightful owner of the purchased shares, and the property can be transferred, by way of inheritance, to the deceased’s heirs.

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