The General Court in Jeddah has permitted a woman to be the legal overseer of her family's endowment properties. Judge Abdul Rahman Al-Husseini, basing his ruling on the precedence of Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab when he appointed his daughter Hafsah to oversee his endowment in Khaibar, thereby resolved the issue of rival siblings demanding that their eldest brother be removed from his responsibilities as overseer of the endowment. The elder sister brought legal action seeking charge of the endowment, describing her brother as “negligent” and “too busy with other things” to take proper responsibility for the endowment. The court held several sessions with the family to look at how their late father's endowment was being managed, and noted that his will required that upon his death charge of the endowment should be assumed by the eldest family heirs, as long as revenues from the property were divided among the siblings and heirs according to Shariah inheritance laws. The endowment, the deed stated, should be properly maintained from its income, with one fifth of the income given to charity.
