MAHOMED SHAFI Vs. MUHAMMAD ABDUL AZIZ

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiffs who are the managers of a mosque brought this suit for a declaration that a certain house is wakf property and not liable to be sold in execution of a decree against the original owner.

(2.) The Court of first instance dismissed the suit on the ground that the wakf is invalid under Mahomedan Law, but the lower appellate Court reversed the finding and decreed the suit.

(3.) The execution of a wakfnamah by Amir-ud-din and his wife Umda on 28 May 1912, is admitted, and they were fully competent to make an endowment of the house to the mosque. We have only to consider whether the endowment so made is valid and complete under Mahomedan Law. The document purports to be a waqf of the house in the name of a certain mosque under the management of punchas, represented by the present plaintiffs, but the executants were to keep their residence in the house up till their death, and after their death the punchas were to have a right to manage the property and spend its income on the mosque. In commenting on the terms of the deed the learned District Judge states: It will be observed that the waqf was to take effect at once and the property became invested in the trustees at once, but the executants reserved a right of enjoyment during their lifetime.