Endowment: Ruling on Selling the Gold of a Holy Shrine to Prevent Theft and Fund Repairs

Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Imam Khamenei

Endowment: Ruling on Selling the Gold of a Holy Shrine to Prevent Theft and Fund Repairs

English:

Question #2073:

The gold, weighing 3 kg. adorning the domes of the holy shrine of an Imam’s offspring, had been stolen on two occasions. However, it was retrieved on both occasions. In order to prevent future robbery, is it permissible to sell the gold and spend the proceeds on repairing/expand the building of the holy shrine?

Answer #2073:

The mere fear of losing the gold, whether as a result of robbery or in any other way, is not a shar‘ī reason to sell it. However, if the shar‘ī trustee sees it considerably feasible — due to some evidence — that the gold has been kept [as a reserve fund] to spend on the maintenance of, and other expenditure on, the holy shrine, or it was absolutely necessary to repair the building, and there were no funds available to carry out the work, there is no objection to selling the gold and spending the money in carrying out the necessary repairs to the holy shrine. It is advisable for the Endowments Authority to supervise the maintenance work.

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