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Philanthropy is linked to the concept of Islamic solidarity [tactful]. Islamic giving includes but not limited to Katz, Sad, and was. Katz is the third pillar of Islam and thus is required of all believers. It IS seen as a tool for more equitable distribution of wealth, achieving social stability and solidarity, discouraging hoarding and encourage circulation of capital. It is also seen as a way of spiritually cleansing oneself and purity of wealth.
It has a special way of calculating and distribution which have evolved differently in arioso environments and economies. Sad which can also be translated to mean benevolence is voluntary giving of alms of all types and forms. It can be performed through voluntary work, in-kind contributions and free services. The beneficiaries are however not defined as it can be given by anyone to any other person he or she wishes. It is less structured and thus its use as an instrument of socio-economic development is limited.
Was on the other hand is a form of endowment of a resource in perpetuity. It can be performed on behalf someone who has passed away, usually for public good. The purpose of a was is set by the endowed and should only be changed in accordance with his or her will. (John Gerhard Center, 2006). This paper will focus on Was as one of the forms of Islamic Philanthropy and especially with respect of how it can be used to alleviate poverty and in socio- economic development. 1. DEFINING WAS, ITS CURRENT USAGE AND ITS LEGITIMACY A was is an inalienable religious endowment in Islam, typically devoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. It IS conceptually similar to the common law trust. It has its source in the Shari a, or religious law of Islam. Islam is generally divided between the Sunnis and Shiite traditions. Although the Curran does not directly mention the institution FAQ, its legal parameters have been developed through centuries by jurists (UN Habitat, 2005).
It is inspired from repetition and emphasis upon charity within Islam as an act of devotion to God. In accordance with the saying of the prophet Muhammad, “Among acts and good deeds for which a believer is rewarded after death, a piece of knowledge he has taught and diffused, a virtuous son he has brought p, an inherited book Of Quern he has left, a mosque or a wayfarer’s house he has constructed, a river he has caused to stream or alms he has handed out of his riches while still healthy and alive, so that he benefits there from in afterlife”.
The institution of was is such a perpetual charity in the Islamic ethical system and is considered as a constituent ingredient of the poverty alleviation program of Islam. (http://www. Quaffs. Org. AZ/Library & Resou rcesracesfWasiarticles aWasDNanopmdevelopmentqfHTMLn bWasid to be the locking up of the title of an owned asset from ispositionsuppositionment of its benefits for a specific purpose or purposes. Therefore, the asset can neither be disposed of; nor its ownership transferred. Only its benefits are to be used for the specific purpose(s), which is (are) mainly charitable in nature.
In this sense, waqf is a wasetual charity and this perpetuity is its essential characteristic. The charitable purposes of waqftradithistrionicallyeducational institutions, orphanages, roads, religious establishments like mosques, graveyards among other public facilities. (Sadeq, 200Shade is important to note that Waqf is a Wasntary charity characterized by erpetuity.repertoryluntary in nature and hence it falls under the voluntary sector. Despite this attribute, deliberate attempts should be made to structure its consolidation and its application.
In this way, the institution of waqf may bwasefully utilized to provide education, health care and physical facilities to target groups of people in a well developed povertyalloverexploitation2 The compulsory and optional charities in Islam such as Sadaqah, aShadet, deaKatzh the poverty problem by adopting basically a redistributive approach. Waqf on thWasher hand can be used to enhance the capabilities of he poor to take care of themselves by providing access to education, health, physical facilities and so on.
To alleviate poverty, income-enhancement; improvement of non-income aspects such as health and education; and increasing access to physical facilities, resources and employment strategies should be employed. Thus, out of the three measures of poverty alleviation, the institution ofwaqf hasFAQt relevance to the second and the third measures, mentioned above, namely: improving on non-income aspects such as health, and education; increasing access to physical facilities, resources and employment.
Waqf can hWasore eHerefordly address the issue of poverty in a new and comprehensive approach. (http://www. emeraldinsNearsightedlyghComVliningsenAppositeness’s=PubIished/PushbikesuEmmerxultracentrifuge) 1. 2HTMLAL FRAMEWORK FOR WAQF The IWASic waqf arranwasnt allows the owner of property to tie up or settle his for the use of beneficiaries in perpetuity. waqf is fowasd once the owner (waqif) makWAISdeclaration that the income of the property is to be reserved permanently for a specific purpose. Waqf can bWasid to be a part of family law.
The laws relating to the waqf are awastegral part of Islamic law (shari’a). Shari’srelations with other areas of law and society such as inheritance, wills, gifts and marriage, thus Awqaf (PluGafff Waqf) are Waslly dealt with as part of family law. There are generally two basic forms of waqf – pubwasand family/’private’. In the family endowment (waqf ahli)waspAllah, or its income, is held for the family of its founder, until the distinction Of his or her descendants, whereupon it is diverted to a charitable purpose.
The charitable or public endowment (waqf khairwasnkarri the permanent dedication of property to charitable purposes. The majority of endowments (awqaf) aregaff, where the permanence and ecurity ofsecurityt of ‘continuous charity’, which is central to waqf, is ewasy evidenced. Some moveable amovableuch as furniture, books or farm animals, may be tied up in a waqf, but wasy has not always been regarded as the valid subject matter of a waqf.
wasDuring the Ottoman period, in the 1 5th and 16th Centuries, a particular form of endowment or trust fund, the cash waqf, by wwas money was settled for social and pious purposes, came to be approved by the courts. (UN Habitat, 2005). The manager (mutawalli/immutable Nazif is rewased to administer it in accordance with the terms of the deed which set it up, particularly its haritable heritable and according to the general expected standards of behaviour behaviors within Islam. The basic principles on awqaf remagaffe same throughout the Islamic world.
However, there are variations in Islamic jurisprudence between the different schools (maddahib) Mohammadg the theories Of the waqf, as wwasas diversity in social practices, judicial attitudes. Widespread State intervention into, and regulation of, endowments has also led to considerable variation between different countries in the implementation of avuqaf. WhFAQ theory waqf propewasis dedicated to God, its temporalittemporarilyues overissuesrship of waqf. Opinwasis divided in the four major schools of law (maddahib, Mohammadon this question. nder Shi’aEndercShih’s the charitable endowments (vaqf, PersFAQ auqaf, pluquaffwere numerous and largely independent. During the Ottoman period waqf propewass where part of a cadastral astrald registered in the same manner as other land. Eventually, the State developed a special office for awqaf for gafftration, control and the clarification of titles. Where title 4 to waqf propewass could not be esta blishest.hblushed would take over the land in question. (UN Habitat, 2005). 0 ECONOMIC DECLINE OF WAQF ThrouWASistorical sources, there has been a marked decline of waqf, despwasits potentiality in socio-economic development. Some of the reasons for this decline were outlined by the UN Habitat (2005) as follows: a. ) Colonialism and waqf In sowasases colonial powers preferred a status quo with regard to awqaf whicgaffured stability as well as social legitimacy. However, the vast tracts of land without private ownership which were part of the Islamic endowment were an easy picking for colonial powers, particularly where religious dissent could be disregarded.
The olonial enLeoniat also saw a decline in the legal status of women in the Muslim world, which affected their ability to exercise their property rights, including their rights to establish and manage awqaf. b. gafferBbase of the religious clergy (ulama) thrllamawaqf Over wasyears, waqf landhwasngs grew considerably, providing the learned religious elite (ulama) witllamaegree of economic independence from the central government and social legitimacy by taking credit for the benefits of waqf systewashe State’s concern over the power base of the clergy was often one of the reasons for regulation of awaqfs. c.quaffs
Cp>Problems of ‘Perpetuity The perpetual nature of the family endowment (waqf ahli)wasnAllahat as generations succeeded generations, the number of beneficiaries increased to a point where the benefits accruing to an individual were insignificant. d. ) RigidDty of waqf Therewasa prevalent view, spearheaded by OrientalisOrientalsors, which holds that the rigidity of the institution of waqf was awas the main causes for the Islamic world’s economic disappointments. e. ) Post-Eolonial attitudes towards waqf Rathewasan modernize the waqf instiwasons, most post-colonial Muslim States sought its abolition or nationalization. ) Effect of nationalisnationalizationStatgafforts to control awqaf as agaffs of extending its power have been evident throughout Islamic history though they have been met with resistance. 3. 0 THE ROLE OF WAQF IN HIWASY According to Sadeq (200Shadehe new approach to the war against poverty, has several dimensions: income, non-income factors such as education and health, and access to physical facilities. If the institution of waqf can hwasin any or more of them, one can safely say that waqf has awase to play in poverty alleviation.
Below, we shall use this criterion to see whether waqf has awasny coaddibution to poverty alleviation in history. Waqf like Wasity has a history older than Islam, which seems to have existed in ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome as well as pre-lslamic Arlilaceties (Othman, 19Ottomant emerged as an important Islamic institution, and it got deeply rooted and flourished extensively in the Islamic civilizations. The Islamic model of waqf then wasuenced the world at large and thus some of the great institutions, like the famous Oxford University, have been established by following the Islamic model of waqf.
wasIn Islamic history, waqf playewas important role in the provision of ducation, educationentres, ccentersfocenters-cultural activities in the form of mosques and shrines, as well as public goods such as roads and bridges. In some periods, such activities were based on waqf to suwasn extent that a large proportion of national land was waqf land waswed and earmarked for purposes that have direct bearings on poverty alleviation. In the middle of nineteenth century for example, endowment property agricultural land constituted half of the size of land in Algeria, whereas it amounted to one-third in Tunisia in 1883 and one-eighth in Egypt in 1949.
Such endowments were among the basic support given to the authority of the caliphate in meeting the educational and health needs of society (Cizakca, 1Acacia 11). For centuries, the Muslim caliphates and states did not have departments or ministries to take care of “public works, roads, bridges, mosques, schools, libraries or hospitals, for the yields of endowment properties used to cover those public needs”. Besides land assets, cash waqf was awasutilized for the designated purposes. Cash waqf used wase established by the well-off people for some specific purposes.
The endowed cash used to be invested or loaned ut to earnUTncome, and the target projects were financed by the earned income. According to Cizakca (1Acaciahealth, education and welfare activities of the Ottoman Caliphate “were entirely financed by gifts and endowments”. Thus, the institution of waqf has mwasits contributions in the provision of education, health and physical facilities, and hence should be treated as playing an important role in the poverty alleviation and socio-economic development agenda in history. . 1 CONTEMPORARY REVIVAL OF THE WAQF AlthoWASawqaf are gaffsarray having been abolished, nationalisnationalistsged,snagged growing evidence of the resurgence of interest, promotion and rethinking on the Islamic endowment as an institution. The IJN HabitaSINn its 2005 Report indicates that there has been an attempt to revive waqf in thwasllowing ways. a. ) Waqf An ciWassociety discourse The idea of waqf has nwasost its appeal, despite its official eclipse, for several reasons.
An increasing number of non-governmental organizations, socio- political group and corporate entities are using waqf modelwassolicit and manage funds, cashing In on the appeal of authenticity of the idea. b. InternaBional support for the revival of waqf The pwastion of the waqf is onwas agenda of the OrganisatiOrganizationc Conference (OIC), as well as the Islamic Development Bank and The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO). IISSUESlitically charged world, the ideologies of the beneficiaries and the founders/creators of awqaf altegaff perception of neutrality of the charitable endowment. . ) Waqf in StWasdiscourse Kuwait has been the leader among States interested in supporting both the reform of existing waqf and iwasxpansion. d. ) InnovDtion in the administrative structure of awqaf WaqfgaffoWascenturies been subject to innovative legal mechanisms. It was best administered where local actors had input into its functioning. The future revival of the institution will depend on the emphasis of the local role waqf playswasthey are best equipped to run it. There are many examples of how the waqf instiwason in its contemporary manifestation has adapted to modern management and regulatory frameworks.