WILLS CHAPTER · 13 – CONCERNING ONE WHO DEVOTES HIS PROPERTY
Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated:
Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, acquired a plot of land from Khaybar. He came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “O Messenger of Allah! I have obtained a piece of land. I do not believe that any property has ever come into my hands more valuable than this. What do you command me to do with it?”
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "If you wish, you may retain its original endowment (waqf) and give the revenue in charity."
Upon this, Umar ibn al-Khattab endowed it with the condition that it not be sold, gifted, or inherited, and gave it to the poor, relatives, slaves, those who go out fighting for Allah’s cause, and travelers. Bishr's narration adds, "to the weak."
Then the narrators agreed: “It is permissible for the one appointed as caretaker (mutawalli) of this land to eat from it a specified amount, and to feed it to a friend. He cannot possess it.” In Bishr’s narration there is an addition, and Muhammad ibn Sirin said: "He may not accumulate capital from it."
Yahya bin Sa’id (may Allah be pleased with him) relates: Concerning the endowment (wakf) of Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: The text of Umar's endowment, which Umar endowed, was written down for me by Abdulhamid, son of Abdullah, son of Umar. (The text was as follows:) “In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This is the written endowment regarding the land in Semga,” and he narrated a similar account to that of Nafi’s preceding narration.
Yahya said: [It states] that one may consume without accumulating wealth. The surplus of what the trustee eats is for beggars and the deprived. He recounted it exactly as he heard it, and then continued:
Umar stated in the endowment: “If the trustee of my endowment in Semga desires, he may purchase slaves with its produce to work [on it].” Muaykib wrote it down. Abdullah ibn Arqam witnessed.
(The first endowment concluded here. The second endowment was as follows:) "In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. This document is the will of Umar, Commander of the Believers. If Umar dies, the land in Semga, the portion of Sirma ibn Ekwa, and the slaves working therein, are [endowed] to Hayber for one hundred sa’s (measures) of land, and the slaves working therein, and the garden of one hundred wasaqs that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, gave to Umar for food in Wadi al-Kurada. As long as he remains alive, my daughter Hafsa will be the trustee; after her, a sensible person from her family will be the trustee. It cannot be sold or purchased. The trustee may distribute it to those deserving among the needy, the deprived, and relatives as he sees fit, and one who is entrusted with it may take from it [provision] or feed himself. If he purchases slaves with its produce to work [on it], there is no hardship upon him.”