Abstract
Waqf has historically been a vital institution in Islam in fulfilling religious needs and improving social welfare. Its effectiveness in medieval and modern Islam is evident. However, this institution is seemingly not without inefficiencies. Public trust and contributions are also low due to the opacity of the accounting and accountability system. Scholars have proposed adopting the blockchain technology to mitigate these issues. The implementation of the blockchain technology is to provide a solution for waqf organisations towards offering transparency to their donors and building trust to gain more support towards the waqf organisation’s mission and work. The blockchain technology manages information within the waqf system by enhancing the aspects of transparency and reliability in how funds are collected, managed, and distributed. This study has two objectives: first, to look into the technological role of blockchain in managing waqf assets in ensuring the most efficient way of financing waqf projects. Second, this research is aimed at exploring and understanding the blockchain technology regarding the issues of trust and accountability in waqf organisations in Malaysia. The study methods consisted of content analysis and an interview. The content analysis focused on publicly accessible information online such as home pages, websites, user interface pages, and annual and financial reports. The semi-structured interview was carried out with a representative of a waqf organisation who has extensive knowledge of these technologies. This article is an effort to contribute to the body of knowledge by exploring blockchain technology’s potential applications and their limits.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonneau, J. Hostile Blockchain Takeovers (Short Paper). Berlin, Heidelberg (2019)
Brito, J., Castillo, A.: Bitcoin: A Primer for Policymakers. Mercatus Center, Arlington (2013).
Campbell, R.: BitGive Launches GiveTrack, a Real-Time Donation Tracking System (2016). https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/bitgive-launches-givetrack-a-real-time-donation-tracking-system-1482179875/
Ecker, C., Wattenhofer, R.: Information Propagation in the Bitcoin Network. In: Paper presented at the IEEE P2P 2013 Proceedings (9–11 Sept. 2013)
Hans, B.: Blockchains, Real-Time Accounting and the Future of Credit Risk Modeling. Lund University Working Paper 2016, p. 4 (2017)
Hileman, G., Rauchs, M.: Global blockchain benchmarking study. Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Cambridge (2017)
Lamb, P.: Transforming the Social Sector: Bitcoin and Blockchain for Good (2018). https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/transforming-the-social-sector-bitcoin-andblockchain_us_59c169e3e4b0f96732cbc9c7
Lehr, D., Lamb, P.: Digital Currencies and Blockchain in the Social Sector (2018). https://ssir.org/articles/entry/digital_currencies_and_blockchain_in_the_social_sector1
Mark, C., Snagg, F., Claire, H.: Distributed ledgers: a future in financial services? J.I.B.L.R. 31(5), pp. 246–247 (2016)
Monich, I.: Blockchain - A revolutionary solution to problems of modern corporate governance. Economics Journal of Transbaikal, State University, vol. 15 (2017)
Noordin, K.A.: Islamic Finance: Using Blockchain to Solve Waqf Challenges. The Edge Malaysia (2018)
Piazza, F.S.: Bitcoin and the blockchain as possible corporate governance tools: strengths and weaknesses. Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs, Is. 2. vol. 5 (2017)
Ramli, R.N.A., Hamid, N.A.: Kelestarian Wakaf Dalam Membangunkan Institusi Pendidikan: Kajian Awal. In: Proceeding of International Conference on Postgraduate Research (ICPR 2014). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2014)
Salmon, J., Myers, G.: Blockchain and Associated Legal Issues for Emerging Markets (2019). Retrieved from https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/31202
Sundararajan, S.: Islamic Development Bank to Research Sharia-Compliant Blockchain Products (2017). https://www.coindesk.com/islamic-development-bankresearch-sharia-compliant-blockchain-products/
Sulaiman, S.: Isu Pembangunan Wakaf Menggunakan Struktur Amanah Pelaburan Hartanah Islam di Malaysia: Satu Tinjauan (2012). Accessed on 25 Januari 2017. http://e-muamalat.islam.gov.my/sites/default/files/kertas_ilmiah/2016/01/pembangunan_wakaf_menerusi_pendanaan_kerajaan_dan_kerjasama_institusi_kewangan_dan_korporat_hala_tuju_cabaran_dan_harapan.pdf
Tomasicchio, A.: Italian Startup Creates Bitcoin Platform for Transparent Natural Disaster Donations (2016). https://cointelegraph.com/news/italian-startup-creates-bitcoin-platform-fortransparent-natural-disaster-donations
Yermack, D.: Corporate Governance and Blockchains. Nber Working Paper Series. National Bureau of Economic Research (2015). http://www.nber.org/papers/w21802
Yin, R.K.: Case study research design and methods, 3rd ed. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA (2003)
Young, M.J.: Islamic Endowments to be Modernized by Blockchain (2018). https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/02/12/islamicendowments-modernized-blockchain/
Zainuddin, A.: Blockchain. Fintech Industry, Islamic Finance - Blockchain in Islamic Finance (2017). https://www.ethiscrowd.com/blog/blockchain-islamic-finance/
Zīle, K., Strazdiņa, R.: Blockchain use cases and their feasibility. Applied Computer Systems 23(1), 12–20 (2018). https://doi.org/10.2478/acss-2018-0002
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Fundamentals of Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) provided by the Ministry of Education of Malaysia with grant code: FRGS/1/2019/SS01/USIM/02/7 for the research titled “Developing A Blockchain-Based Governance Framework For Waqf Organisations Toward A Sustainable Economics Wellbeing”. Special thanks to the staff and the Head of Asset Development & Waqf Properties Unit under Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (MAINPP) for their full cooperation and commitment in supporting this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Laili, N.H., Khairi, K.F., Masruki, R. (2023). The Role of Blockchain Technology in the Management of Waqf. In: Alareeni, B., Hamdan, A., Khamis, R., Khoury, R.E. (eds) Digitalisation: Opportunities and Challenges for Business. ICBT 2022. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 620. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26953-0_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26953-0_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-26952-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-26953-0
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)