Is it permissible to pay off the accumulated debts of an endowment (waqf) from zakat funds, considering the endowment as being in debt (gharim), knowing that the endowment is a non-profit entity and its administrators are working for the sake of Allah?

It is impermissible to use zakat to pay off the debt of a charitable organization or an endowment (waqf), because zakat is given to a specific recipient and is intended for their ownership. It is not permissible to use it for an endowment, public interests, or for a legal entity, unless the debt is owed by poor individuals who are members of that entity, in which case they may be given from it. Jurists have stipulated that zakat is not to be used for building a mosque, repairing roads, or similar endeavors where ownership is not transferred; rather, it is disbursed to the poor who then own it. If one intends to spend on these endeavors, money can be given to a poor person, who is then instructed to spend it on those causes. Zakat is not to be spent on Islamic schools except for the poor among teachers and students. Similarly, it is not permissible to spend zakat on establishing an endowment, even if its proceeds are intended for the same purposes as zakat, because in such a case, the poor benefit from the endowment's produce and not from its principal, whereas what is obligatory is to grant them ownership of the zakat itself. Furthermore, an endowment is considered a general charitable expense, and a portion of its proceeds is spent on administrative tasks for the endowment, which is not permissible.