Saturday, 18 April 2026 (1 Dhuʻl-Qiʻdah 1447 AH)
Question: A pious, poor man with weak eyesight and dependents purchased a plot of land, developed it, and built a house on it to live in with his family. Many years later, he was informed that the land he had built on was endowed to the pigeons of Mecca. He seeks to know a way out; he is now in extreme poverty. What is the ruling?
Answer—and Allah is the One who grants success:
1. The seller in this case is treacherous; his guardianship over the waqf is void due to his treachery. His sale of the waqf is also regarded as a relinquishment of his guardianship.
2. In the jurists’ words is an indication that such a waqf is invalid, for they have stated that a condition of the disbursement category (maṣraf) is that it be among those who can own; a pigeons cannot own.
3. The jurists state that a waqf of this type becomes a waqf for the poor. They say: Whoever said, “This wealth of mine is a waqf for Allah Most High upon the church,” the mention of the church is null and void, and the waqf becomes for the poor.
Accordingly, it is permissible for this man to remain on that land due to his poverty, need, and hardship; he is among the beneficiaries of the aforementioned waqf, with an additional special consideration in that he paid the price and built the house—matters for which he is excused due to ignorance and being misled.
If it is said: He should seek recourse against the one who deceived him.
We reply: The man is weak, and the authority to enforce the right is absent.
In al-Masāʾil al-Nāfiʿah it is stated: “The guardian may hand land to a poor person to exploit it—by consensus.” End
And in al-Minḥah, the commentator on al-Athmār said: “A waqf upon what cannot own—like ‘the house of so-and-so’ or his riding animal—is invalid, as is [a waqf] upon the pigeons of Mecca (contrary to al-Manṣūr). Likewise all beasts and birds, whether owned or unowned.”
And al-Bayān mentions—within and at the end of the discussion on selling a waqf—the following: “Sayyid Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥusayn, author of al-Yāqūtah, and Abū Muḍar said: Rather, it is corrupt (fāsid); because there is disagreement over it—like a mudabbar slave—so the buyer owns it by taking possession, owes no rent for it, and it is not rescinded except by mutual consent or judicial ruling. If the buyer sells it, his sale is valid and the waqf is void.” End.
This applies when the seller is the founder or his heir—and our case is of that nature.
Source: Min Thimār al-ʿIlm wa al-Ḥikmah vol.2