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Is it permissible to expand the intention of an endowment whose proceeds were designated for serving the Holy Quran to include da‘wah (inviting to Islam) in Africa, such as building mosques, digging wells, and establishing Islamic centers?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a person endows something, it becomes binding, and they cannot retract it or change its condition unless it is for the better. The majority of jurists hold that once an endowment is made, fulfilling its conditions, it becomes binding, and the endower's right to dispose of the endowed property is severed; it cannot be sold, gifted, or inherited. The condition of the endower and the specified beneficiary of the endowment must be adhered to. Some scholars permit changing the endower's condition if it is changed for what is more suitable and better. If the endowment is for the service of the Holy Quran, such as buying Qurans and establishing centers for Quran memorization, it is not advisable to change it for building mosques or digging wells, because the benefit of serving the Quran is great and people are in need of memorization centers. It is permissible to establish these centers in Africa and support Quranic education there, unless a specific country was designated in the endowment.

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

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