Article 3 of the Saudi Endowments Authority Law

This article states the purpose for which the General Authority of Endowments was created, which is four main tasks toward endowments:

• Regulating endowments.
• Preserving them.
• Developing them.
• Growing them.

The article ties these tasks to three controls:

1. They must fulfill the endowers' conditions; under Article 1, the endower's condition is the wording they set regarding the endowment, its income, its spending, its supervisor or the beneficiary.
2. They must strengthen the role of endowments in economic and social development and social solidarity.
3. This must be in line with the objectives of Islamic Sharia and the laws.

These objectives come after Article 2, which gives the Authority independent legal personality, and before Article 4, which gives the Authority supervision over all public, private (family) and joint endowments, and over the work of supervisors appointed by endowers, without violating their conditions or entering into the work of supervision.

The importance of this article is practical: it is the reference in light of which the Authority's tasks are understood. Growing an endowment, for example, is not an absolute goal but is limited by fulfilling the endower's condition and by the rules of Sharia and the laws.