Legal-Jurisprudential Study of Changing the Endowment Properties for the Better

Endowment is the institutionalization of a kind of friendship and one of the great memorials of Divine Prophets, which is highly important in Islamic religious law. With the establishment of endowment bureaus and organizations, this institution has been brought under control of the law and state with various objectives, including expediency for the endowment properties. Thus, change of the endowment properties for the better has been a subject of discussion among the jurists as one of the most important issues of endowment. Some have permitted change or sale of the endowment properties in special circumstances and yet others have in general prohibited any kind of sale or change of them. In this article, first the permissibility or impermissibility of sale or change for the better of the endowment properties is dealt with. In continuation, by presentation of proofs, evidences, and permissions for this discourse, it is brought up that change of the endowed properties for the better and consequently more desirable use of them conforms to the endower’s main intention and paying attention to this important issue is in the interest of the endowed properties and one of the significant factors for their preservation, development, and perpetuation in the society level.