Temporary Endowment: A Way Out of Legal Impasses and Towards Efficient Economic Development

In the common interpretation of jurists, the distinguishing feature of endowment (waqf) compared to other forms of charity is the dedication of the principal asset along with the allocation of its benefits. Based on this understanding, "permanence" is considered one of the essential characteristics of endowment. On the one hand, this approach necessitates the preservation of capital from financial circulation and wealth reproduction. On the other hand, the necessity of following the endower's will and caution in ensuring the compliance of the endowment's status with it sometimes leads to legal deadlocks. Moreover, with the acceptance of the aforementioned assumption, public acceptance of endowment will be less; because the endowed property usually has a significant economic value. The proposal that can be made to address these dilemmas is to institutionalize "temporary endowment" and promote it. This is an institution that many Islamic countries have occasionally pioneered and succeeded in utilizing, following a less well-known jurisprudential fatwa. In our country, this institution can also be used as one of the best mechanisms for realizing the policies of the Economic Strength. In this paper, the authors try to weaken the foundations of the dominant view by describing and analyzing library resources and relying on the opinions of some great scholars. Then, they strengthen the theoretical basis of "temporary endowment" and finally propose the introduction of this institution into the legal system.