Return of the endowment to the trustee

Seyyed Mahdi Imam Jamarani

A few years after the provisional government of Bazargan was dismissed in 1979, the government's view towards the affiliates of the Freedom Movement and Mr. Bazargan was generally negative. One day, I was at the Endowments Office when the late Dr. Yadollah Sahabi, who was the second person in the Freedom Movement and one of the very devout individuals of this political movement, approached me.

With the mindset shaped by the way supporters of the government interacted, he said to me: "Mr. Jamarani, there is an endowment for which I am the legal trustee, and I witness that this endowment is being neglected and its rights are being violated by the occupants. I know that you personally cannot take action to transfer the trusteeship of this endowment to me, and others do not want such endowments to be in the hands of people like me, but I thought I would make a formal request to you. Therefore, if you have the capability in the Endowments Office, please instruct that this endowment and its trusteeship be returned to me so that I can save it from its current state and preserve it."

I replied to him: "I will do my best and take the necessary actions, and God willing, I will return both the trusteeship and the endowment to you."

Mr. Sahabi, with despair, said again: "I know the situation is such that they will not allow this to happen, but I mentioned it to you as a formal request."

He stated this issue and left. After an initial review, it became clear that the building of the mentioned endowment was occupied by the Ministry of Intelligence. I pursued the matter and corresponded with the occupant of the endowment on behalf of the Endowments Organization, stating: "This endowment has a legal trustee, and although you are a security institution, you must either obtain his permission to occupy it, or if you are occupying this endowment without his permission, you must vacate it as soon as possible, because the Endowments Organization is obligated by law and religion to issue the trusteeship decree to the appointed trustee and hand it over to him."

After some time, I was contacted from there and asked: "Do you see it appropriate to return this endowment to its trustee, Mr. Sahabi?"

I replied: "I see no objection and I fully agree with this trusteeship."

That person said: "You know that this group is politically opposed to the government. How can you agree?"

I said: "Look, we in the Endowments Office do not concern ourselves with the political affiliations of individuals. Someone may be politically opposed to us, but in terms of religious law, he is the trustee of the endowment, and we are obliged to hand over the trusteeship to him."

With my statement, that official was convinced and said: "In that case, if you agree, please write and send us your official consent."

I said: "The letter I provided to you serves as our agreement, and what I wrote should be acted upon. No other letter is needed."

Fortunately, it wasn't long before we were informed that the building of the endowment would be vacated and handed over to the Endowments Office so that they could act as they see fit. I immediately informed Dr. Sahabi that we had received the endowment and asked him to visit for the issuance of the trusteeship and the handover of the endowment. Mr. Sahabi came to me and was very astonished at how we had regained that building and how we could grant him the trusteeship.

I told him: "You and the government may have political disputes, but we in the Endowments Office do not deal with political issues, and you can establish your trusteeship over your endowment."

He accepted the endowment, took possession of it, and we issued the trusteeship for him. After a while, Dr. Sahabi called me and said: "So-and-so! My son, Engineer Sahabi, is a deserving person and is still a tenant. He wants to rent one floor of this endowment from us at the price set by the Endowments expert."

I said: "You are the trustee, and if you see it appropriate, we have no objection."

Dr. Sahabi said: "According to the law, the endowment must be allocated through auction, and in exceptional cases, the order to refrain from auction is with the Endowments Office and yourself. Will you allow such a thing to be done without an auction?"

I was surprised at how Engineer Ezzatollah Sahabi, with all his credibility, was still a tenant and had no housing for himself. I told him: "Since it is according to the expert's rate, I agree. You write a letter so I can take action."

At his request, I wrote the order to refrain from auction, and that unit was rented to him according to the Endowments expert's opinion, and the late Sahabi thanked us very much.

Narratives and Memories of Seyyed Mahdi Imam Jamarani, compiled by Dr. Sadegh Abadi, Publisher: Aruj Publishing, First Edition: 2020, Volume 2, Pages 789-791