A school principal and surplus school books

A question about a school principal and surplus school books, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department answered that the principal holds the books in trust and must follow the ministry's instructions: if they allow selling or giving them away, he may; if they forbid it, it is forbidden, and he must return the surplus books or ask the ministry's permission to sell them and put the money toward the school. ¹

The principal of a state school, who ends up with surplus textbooks sent by the Ministry of Education because some pupils are absent or move away, asked whether he may give them to pupils outside his school or sell them. ¹

The Department answered that an employee is a hired agent of the body he works for and is entrusted with his work, so he must observe its regulations and instructions and may act only within what he is permitted. ¹ It said he may not sell or give away the books in his own name, since that is a transgression and a consuming of public money, a forbidden unlawful gain. ¹ It concluded that the principal holds in trust what is in his hands: if the ministry's instructions allow the books to be sold or given away, he may do so; if they forbid it, it is forbidden, and he must return the surplus books to the ministry or seek its permission to sell them and put the proceeds toward the school. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 4521, dated 29 October 2026. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.