It is not valid to make a waqf of social media pages

Question

Praise be to Allah.

On
our website we have previously explained that sadaqah jaariyah (ongoing
charity) is the waqf (endowment), which is mentioned in the hadith of Abu
Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “When a man dies,
all his good deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity, beneficial
knowledge, and a righteous son who will pray for him.” Narrated by Muslim
(1631). See fatwas no. 43101 and
122361

According to Islamic sharee‘ah, the waqf must have two components: the
original, tangible property and the benefit.

The one who establishes the waqf designates the original, tangible property
to be “frozen” for the sake of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and
no one has the right to sell it or dispose of it.

As
for the benefit, this means spending what it produces in the manner
stipulated in the waqf (endowment).

It
says in al-Ikhtiyaar (3/40), which is a Hanafi book:

It
means freezing the original, tangible property as the property of the one
who establishes the waqf, and giving the benefit or income it produces in
charity. End quote.

The Maalikis defined it as follows:

It
means giving the benefit of something for the duration of its existence,
which must remain the property of the giver, even if that is in a virtual
sense.

End quote from Sharh Mukhtasar Khaleel by al-Kharashi (7/78).

Al-Khateeb ash-Sharbeeni (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The waqf, in shar‘i terms, is a type of freezing wealth or property that may
be benefited from whilst preserving the original, tangible property and
using its benefit in a permissible way.

Ongoing charity (sadaqah jaariyah) is interpreted by the scholars as
referring to the waqf, as was stated by ar-Raafa‘i, unlike other types of
charity that are not ongoing; rather the one to whom the charity is given
takes possession of it, both the original, tangible property and its
benefits, with immediate effect. With regard to the bequest of benefits,
even though this is included in the hadith, it is rare; hence it is more
appropriate to interpret charity in the hadith as referring to waqfs.

End quote from Mughni al-Muhtaaj (3/522-523)

Al-Bahooti al-Hanbali (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

The waqf is when an owner who has full ownership of property allocates the
benefits of his property (to charitable causes) whilst the original,
tangible property remains his.

End quote from Kashshaaf al-Qinaa‘ (4/240).

Thus it is clear that dedicating an account on Facebook or Twitter or other
social media does not come under the heading of a waqf. Rather it is
regarded as a type of charity that brings reward so long as the benefits
continue, if there is any shar‘i benefit in it for others.

It
is an ongoing charity in the linguistic sense, but not in the technical
shar‘i sense. That is because a subscriber to a social media website does
not own the page or the account that he has; rather he is using the benefit
of that account. In fact the account itself is a benefit that does not have
any tangible essence. The tangible property in this case is the huge server
that contains the social media websites, and these servers are owned by the
company, not the account holders.

We
hope that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will decree reward for you
and your parents for all the good that is published on this webpage. What
matters in such cases is to what extent there is benefit in such things,
whether it is called a waqf or ongoing charity or something else altogether.
What matters is that it should have beneficial content and that you seek
reward for that with Allah, may He be glorified and exalted.

And Allah knows best.