Endowment of Company's Shares: Its Legal Possibility and Social Necessity

An endowment consists the surrender of a property and devotion of its profits to some purpose. Accordingly it is permissible to endow only such property as can be exploited without detriment to it's existence, whether it be movable, held in undivided shares or divided up. On the other hand "Share" is the interest of a share holder in the company measured by a sum of money for the purpose of liability in the first place and of interest in the second. An important question arises whether it is legally permissible to endow company's shares. Legal possibility and social necessity of endowment of company's shares are examined in this article in the light of Iranian civil and commercial codes and Islamic doctrines.