Selling surplus water coolers in a mosque

A question about selling a mosque's unused surplus water coolers and buying something else with the price, in which Jordan's General Iftaa Department distinguished items endowed in themselves, which are sold only if they break down, from items donated to the mosque or bought by its administrator without being endowed, which may be sold when needed. ¹

The questioner described a mosque with several water coolers that are unused and surplus to need, and asked whether they may be sold and something else bought for the mosque. ¹

The Department answered that an endowment in principle may not be sold, given away or inherited, citing the agreed-upon report of Umar ibn al-Khattab endowing his land at Khaybar. ¹ It said that endowment furnishings such as carpets and water coolers fall into two kinds: items endowed in themselves may not be sold unless they break down and can no longer be used, in which case they are sold and replaced with the like, or moved to another mosque that needs them; items donated to the mosque without endowment, or bought by the endowment's administrator without endowing them, may be sold when needed. ¹ It quoted al-Nawawi in Rawdat al-Talibin giving two views on selling worn-out mosque mats, the sounder being that they are sold so they are not wasted, and his statement that what the administrator bought for the mosque or a donor gave it may be sold when needed without disagreement, since it is owned property; it also quoted al-Bakri al-Dimyati on moving mosque mats. ¹ It concluded with this distinction for the coolers, depending on whether they are endowed or owned by the mosque. ¹

Jordan's General Iftaa Department published this fatwa on aliftaa.jo as no. 3953, dated 3 March 2025. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.