Waqfs

Waqf is sometimes described as the Islamic system of philanthropy, but the concept is more complicated than that. It has sometimes crossed national boundaries and has an ambivalent relationship to the state.

Waqfs can be classified in different ways. They can be established for philanthropic/public (khayri/'amm) or family/private (ahli/khass) purposes. The former serves religious and various socioeconomic purposes, and the latter type is established for the benefit of family members and descendants of the founder. According to Monzer Kahf, a combined/mixed waqf (waqf mushtarak) has dual objectives of serving the family/descendants and the public. Although most waqfs were dedicated to serving the needs of the poor, they served many other diverse purposes. There were waqfs for public utilities, education, and health care, and there were others that provided financial services in the form of interest-free loans, supplied seeds for cultivation, protected and fed animals, and funded research in science, mathematics, astronomy, and so on.

Scholar Henry Cattan (1955) defined waqf (pl. awqaf) as “detention of the corpus from the ownership of any person and the gift of its income or usufruct either presently or in the future, to some [Page 1754]charitable purpose” (p. 203). In northern Africa where the Maliki school of Islam is practiced, waqf is known as habs (pl. ahbas, hubus). Unlike zakah, which is obligatory charity on Muslims, waqf is voluntary and falls under sadaqah jariyah, or continuous charity. A waqf is established when the founder (waqif) dedicates privately owned property for some good cause (birr). Whereas traditionally the waqf was endowed with immovable assets, it can be made with movable assets, including cash.

By creating a waqf through a deed, the founder relinquishes the ownership of the asset without subsequent transfer of ownership to another person; because of this reason, some scholars view the ownership of waqf assets/properties as belonging to God. The waqif determines the objectives of the endowed assets and distribution of its proceeds. Most waqfs are perpetual, and often this is emphasized in the deeds. The organizational structure of waqfs is flexible and is determined by the founder. Historically, most waqfs were managed by single managers, referred to as mutawalli, nazir, walyy, qayyim, or wasyy. The deed usually identifies the manager of the waqf and the succession scheme of management.

Traditionally, waqf law had very restricted rules of perpetuity, irrevocability, and inalienability. Dedication of asset to waqf could not be revoked and had to be perpetual. As the personal ownership of the asset ceased after creation of a waqf, it became inalienable and could not be inherited, sold, mortgaged, or gifted. Earlier legal views also contended that the asset dedicated for waqf must be tangible.