The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Fatwa
Chairman: ʿAbd al‑ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bāz
Member: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ghadayān
Member: Ṣāliḥ al‑Fawzān
Member: ʿAbd al‑ʿAzīz Āl al‑Shaykh
Member: Bakr Abū Zayd
Fatwa No. (125)
“As the executor of the estate of the mother of His Majesty King Saud—may God have mercy on her—we found among her estate various endowment documents. Among them is the endowment deed for a building in al‑Muqaybirah, a copy of which is attached. Since we have a surplus of its revenue after fulfilling the designated allocations, and since the deceased—may God have mercy on her—also endowed several houses for imams and muezzins, some of these imams and muezzins have approached us requesting the renovation of these houses. However, we have no funds with which to renovate them. Is it permissible for us to renovate these houses using the surplus revenue from the aforementioned endowment?”
End of question.
Upon reviewing the referenced deed, two documents were found. The first is No. 615/11, dated 26/12/1380 AH, issued by the Riyadh Notary Public, confirming ownership of the building mentioned by the overseer. The second is No. 533/8, dated 17/11/1380 AH, also issued by the Riyadh Notary Public. At the bottom of this deed appears the following statement:
“The above‑mentioned revenue was endowed by Wadha, the mother of Saud ibn ʿAbd al‑ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd al‑Raḥmān Āl Fayṣal. She designated from its revenue four sacrificial animals (uḍḥiyahs). After specifying the beneficiaries of these sacrifices, she stated: ‘Whatever remains after the sacrifices shall be spent on breakfast and water for the mosques,’ and she listed seven mosques in the year 1385 AH.”
This statement bears the seal of Shaykh ʿAbd al‑Laṭīf ibn Ibrāhīm—may God have mercy on him.
Answer:
After the Committee studied the question and the attached deeds, it issued the following response:
Since the ownership and endowment status of the building have been established, the foremost priority for its revenue is the repair and maintenance of the building itself. Whatever remains after its repair must be directed first to the expenditures specified by the donor: the sacrificial animals, and the provision of breakfast and water for the mosques she named.
If, after fulfilling these conditions, there remains a surplus, and since the houses designated for imams and muezzins are themselves endowments from the same donor, and these houses are in need of repair, it is permissible to renovate these houses using the remaining surplus revenue—after fulfilling the donor’s explicit stipulations.
It is also appropriate to note that the maintenance and preservation of these houses, which are endowed for the benefit of imams and muezzins, takes precedence over their personal use of them. Therefore, to ensure their continued preservation, an annual rental value should be assigned to each house, and they should be inspected at the end of every year. If a house requires repair, it should be repaired from its own rental income, and whatever remains may then be given to the imam or muezzin for whom the house was endowed.
And God is the source of success. May God’s blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions