Endowment: Endowing Natural Public Lands (Anfāl)

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Endowment: Endowing Natural Public Lands (Anfāl)

English:

Question #2005:

Can natural forests and public grazing lands — that no one did anything to bring them into existence — be designated as endowment trusts, especially when they are enshrined in Article 45 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic as anfāl?

Answer #2005:

For the endowment to be valid, the property has to be lawfully owned by the would-be donor. Since natural forests and public grazing lands, that constitute anfāl and public property, i.e. not private property, no one has jurisdiction over designating them as endowments.

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