What is the difference between a gift (hiba) and an endowment (waqf)? What is the legal formulation for a legally documented gift, in which the donor stipulates the wife's continued marital bond, and that the ownership of the gifted asset does not transfer to her heirs, but rather reverts to the donor or his heirs? And does a handwritten will have legal validity?
Waqf linguistically means: holding back. Islamically, it is defined as: holding back an asset whose usufruct can be utilized while its本体 remains intact, by preventing disposition of its ownership for a permissible cause. As for Hiba (gift), linguistically it means: donating and bestowing. Islamically, it is defined as: transferring ownership of an asset without compensation. It is a voluntary transfer of ownership during one's lifetime, and a Hiba cannot be made conditional or temporal, because it is the transfer of ownership of a specific item during one's lifetime, so it cannot be made conditional or temporal. Ibn Taymiyyah disagreed with this, permitting the conditioning of a Hiba. The right to revoke a Hiba applies if the donee has not disposed of it. However, if the donee has disposed of it or destroyed it, the donor's right is forfeited.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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