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Is it permissible for the children who are executors of one-third of their father's estate, designated for charitable works, to choose one of themselves as a nominal owner of the trust's assets for the purpose of developing them, provided that he signs an acknowledgment disclaiming ownership, and should the majority opinion be acted upon in the event that one of the children objects?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The bequest is an endowment (waqf). Its principal must be preserved, and its usufruct spent on acts of righteousness and charity, according to the father's will, because the condition stipulated by the endower is binding as long as it does not contradict Islamic law. There is no objection to appointing a supervisor (nazir) to manage the endowment, while avoiding symbolic ownership to preserve it, and naming the person who manages it a supervisor, not an owner. The supervisor must be trustworthy, honest, and knowledgeable about how to invest. In case of disagreement over the appointment of the supervisor, the matter should be referred to the Sharia judge to resolve the dispute.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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