Abstract
The life and soul of waqf is charity. The only distinguishing feature which waqf has adopted is to place certain conditions restraining the mode and duration of its enjoyment. Several verses of the Quran explain charity. Since waqf and charity are coterminous, it becomes obvious that waqf finds a mention in the Quran, even though indirectly. However, this relationship is completely un-noticed when the origin of waqf is exclusively tasted in Hadiths, thus downgrading its divine status. It emboldened jurists and states to treat recklessly laws relating to family waqf, cash waqf and perpetuity, thereby seriously injuring the social welfare potential of waqf. It is indeed surprising to find a complete failure of Islamic jurists and orientalists to notice the divine status of waqf even when it is evident from at least fifty-nine (59) Quranic verses, thereby its religious ranking in the eyes of the common Muslim. This enabled the jurists and the States to tinker with waqf without fearing a public rebuke or backlash. The law of waqf was made a plaything, converting it into a minefield of conflicting views of jurists of various schools, whose obsession with their views brought a devaluation of the sanctity of waqf laws. This would never have happened if the Quranic origin of waqf was properly projected and acknowledged. For Muslims, Quran occupies the highest place of honour. If something is “mentioned” either directly or indirectly in the Quran, it gets elevated to a high pedestal in Muslim’s mind. Once this fact stands firmly is, neither a jurist nor the State, would have dated to go against the basic ideology of waqf which is social welfare in its widest sense. We will investigate this a little later, but let us explore the prevailing missplaces notion of the origin of waqf.
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Notes
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Quranic verses not cited in full for space constraint: 2: 3, 4, 5, 83, 195, 219, 254; 4: 8, 36; 9: 60, 79, 98, 99, 111; 13: 22, 23; 16: 90; 28: 54; 35: 29; 42: 38; 58: 12; 61: 10, 11; 64: 17; 76: 8, 9, 10, 11; 90: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17: 93: 9; 107: 1, 2, 3, 7 [Total: 38].
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See, A. A. A. Fyzee, Outlines of Muhammadan Law, 3rd ed. (Oxford University Press, 1964), pp. 266–267. See also, Syed Khalid Rashid, Waqf Administration in India: A Socio-legal Study (Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1978), pp. 11–36.
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Siraj Sait and Hilary Lim, loc cit at 164.
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A useful and informative discussion on family waqf, may be seen in Muhammad Abdurrahman Sadique, “Re-assessment of Family Waqf”, in Syed Khalid Rashid (ed.), Waqf Laws and Management (International Islamic University Press, Kuala Lumpur, 2017), pp. 24–45, and in the same volume, Magda Ismail Abdel Muhsin, “Past, Present and Future of Family Waqf”, pp. 46, 56.
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OIC (2000), ‘Promoting Waqfs and Their Role in the Development of Islamic Societies,’ Report of the Secretary-General to the Twenty-Seventh Session of the OIC Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 27–30 June, 2000.
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Mahmoud A. Mahdi, “Enhancing the Growth and Performance of Awqaf: The IDB Experience”, in Syed Khalid Rashid (ed.), Awqaf Experiences in South Asia (IOS, New Delhi, 2012), pp. 231–247.
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Abdul Mohsen M. Ali Othman and Dahi Al-Fadhli, “Role of Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation in Promoting Awqaf”, in Syed Khalid Rashid (ed.), Awqaf Experiences in South Asia (IOS, New Delhi, 2012), pp. 249–262.
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Ahmat Ihsan Eryilmaz, “Awqaf and Their Structure in Turkey”, in Syed Khalid Rashid (ed)., Awqaf Experiences in South Asia (IOS, New Delhi, 2012), pp. 263–269.
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Information about India and Malaysia are based on personal knowledge of the author, while information about Nigeria is based on Umar A. Oseni, “ The Need for an Effective Legal and Regulatory Framework for waqf in Nigeria,” in Syed Khalid Rashid (ed.), Waqf Laws and Management (IIUM Press, 2017), pp. 240–270.
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Siraj Sait and Hilary Lim, Land, Law & Islam: Property and Human Rights in the Muslim World (Zed Books, London, 2006), p. 173.
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Rashid, S.K. (2021). Not Yet Fully Understood Divine Status of Waqf and Its Social Welfare Role. In: Billah, M.M. (eds) Islamic Wealth and the SDGs. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65313-2_23
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