lesson 2 waqf studies

Module 2Waqf in Islam: Its meaning and Implications

WAQF STUDIES INTRODUCTORY COURSE

Course Content• Meaning of Waqf•Linguistic meaning of Waqf•Conventional meaning of Waqf

• Waqf terminates the right to property of its owner• Shari’ah texts advocating Waqf endowment• Objectives and importance of Waqf• Properties which are Permissible for Waqf endowment

© – AWQAF SA WAQF STUDIES INTRODUCTORY COURSE Slide 2

Learning Outcomes


1. Understand the meaning of Waqf from a linguistic and conventional point of view;2. Understand the Implications of creating a Waqf;3. Understand why Waqf terminates the rights to properties once the endowed properties become Awqaf;4. Understand the Shari’ah texts advocating the creation of Waqf;5. Understand the objectives and Importance of Waqf;6. Understand the properties which are permissible for Waqf endowment.

Linguistic meaning of Waqf endowment


From a linguistic point of view, "Waqf" means forbidding movement, transport or exchange of something. Literally its means to stop, contain, preserve, or conserve. The root meaning of the word applies to the act and praxis. Similarly, the same meaning applies to the endowed object (object of the action). The plural of Waqf is "Awqaf".

The meaning of "Waqf” is very close to that of "Habs" which literally means “locking up”, both linguistically and conventionally. In fact, both words have become synonymous in the conventional use; so much so that they are used interchangeably. The word “Habs” (Plural: Hubus) is used mainly in North Africa and Andalusia

Conventional meaning of Waqf


Waqf is an Islamic concept, which refers to a special kind of charity given for the purposes of benevolence. The word is used for charities and gifts that have permanence and continuity, so that beneficiaries can benefit from them for years, generations or even centuries. This means that Waqf is made of entities from whose usefulness, yield and fruit people (or animals) can benefit, such as agricultural land, a shopping centre, a well, a mosque, or a tree. One definition considered the easiest and most correct, defined by the knowledgeable Hanbali Muwaffiq Addin bin Qudama is: "and it means bequeathing the property and dedicating the fruit.”

Conventional meaning of Waqf


This definition implies that the property or money becomes bequeathed and neither its owner, nor heirs, nor anybody else is allowed to use it, except the people for whom this property/asset/ or money was bequeathed such as the poor, widows, orphans, etc. Thus, “bequest” here means terminating the owner's right or whoever would replace him. That is, the donor’s right to this property is ended and s/he is not allowed to use it. And this is "the lasting charity" or “Sadaqah Jariyyah” as it was labeled by the Prophet (SAW) in his well known Hadith, "When a human being dies, his/her deeds come to an end except for three: a lasting charity (Waqf), knowledge that benefits others, and a pious child who calls on Allah (SWT) for his/her parents favour.”

Waqf terminates the right to property of its owner


Most Islamic jurists from the different Madhahib (Islamic doctrines) agree on the fact that Waqf terminates the right to property of its owner, as expressed by Ibn Qudama: "If the Waqf is made correctly, the person making the Waqf loses his/her right over it. This is stated in the "Sahih" doctrine (authentic version of the Hadith), and is widely known in the Madhahib of Shafii and Abu Hanifa".

Confirmation of the fact that Waqf withdraws ownership from the bequest maker or donor is the saying of the Prophet (SAW) to Omar Ibn Al Khattab: "If you want, bequeth its corpus and offer it as a charity, provided that its corpus can neither be sold, bought, given as a gift nor inherited". Moreover, once the offer of Waqf is made, it is irreversible. Shoukani said: "The truth is that Waqf is one of the offerings that cannot be broken after having been made, neither by the Waqf endowment maker nor by anybody else."

Shari’ah texts advocating Waqf endowment


There are verses in the Holy Qur’an, which mentions many kinds of charity, good deeds and beneficence in general, including Waqf (although not directly using the word Waqf)."O ye who believe! Bow down, prostrate yourselves and worship your Lord; and do good, that happily ye may prosper.” (Qur’an 22:77) Bequest is one of the best kinds of charity that this verse advocates as its benefit lasts and a large number of people gain advantage from it.

“Ye will not attain unto piety until ye spend of that which ye love. And whatsoever ye spend, Allah is Aware thereof.”(Qur’an 3:92) Most of what mankind loves in wealth is permanent and lasting property such as houses, land and trees. The verse then encourages the pious to spend from the most cherished of their property.



“Lo! We it is Who bring the dead to life. We record that which they send before (them, and their footprints. And all things We have kept in a clear Register.” (Qur’an 36:12) Thus, Allah (SWT) records people's deeds and the impact of their deeds before and after their death, be they good or bad. There is no doubt that bequeathed property leaves good effects after the death of the person who did it, while its reward lasts as long as it benefits one of Allah (SWT)’s subjects or mankind in general.



There are several Hadiths recorded on the deeds of the Prophet (SAW) ’s Companions as follows:

According to Abdullah bin Omar [May Allah (SWT) be Pleased with him], Omar (RA) obtained a land lot in Khaibar. He went to the Prophet (SAW) asking him for advice. He said: "Ye Apostle of Almighty, I obtained a land in Khaibar. I never obtained a property more precious to me than this. What do you advise me? The Prophet (SAW) said: "If you want, you can bequeath it, and give it as a sadaqah; provided that it should not be sold, bought, given as gift or inherited." He said, “Then Omar gave it as sadaqah for the poor, relatives, slaves, wayfarers, and guests. There is no harm for the person responsible for it to feed himself or a friend from it but for free.”-(Bukhari and Muslim)



And according to Anas, (May Allah (SWT) be Pleased with Him), Abu Talha was the richest Ansari person near Madinah. And the property he cherished most was "Bir Ha’e" (a palm tree orchard near the Prophet(SAW)'s Mosque). When the verse was revealed: “Ye will not attain unto piety until ye spend of that which ye love. And whatsoever ye spend, Allah is Aware thereof.”(Qur’an 3:92), Abu Talha went to the Apostle of Allah (SWT) and said: "Allah Most High says in His Book: “Ye will not attain unto piety until ye spend of that which ye love. And whatsoever ye spend, Allah is Aware thereof.”(Qur’an 3:92), and the most cherished property I have is Bir Ha’e. I am giving it as sadaqah, wishing goodness and preservation; thus, O apostle of Allah (SWT), use it the way you want."-(Sahih Bukhari 7:69:515)



According to Othman, (May Allah (SWT) be Pleased with him), the Prophet (SAW) arrived in Madinah and realized that the city had very little drinking water except the water of Bi'r Ruma (Ruma Well). He asked: "Who will purchase Bi'r Ruma to equally share the water drawn therefrom with his fellow Muslims and shall be rewarded with a better well in the Garden (of Eden)?" Then I bought it from my own money". -(Bukhari) It was said that this well belonged to a man from Bani Ghaffar, who used to sell a waterskin full for a dry measure (mudd) of cereal. The prophet (SAW) asked him: "Do you want to sell it to me for a water source in Heaven?" The man answered: "That's the only source of income that my children and I have”. When Othman heard about this, he paid for it thirty five thousand Dirhams. Then he came to the Prophet (SAW) and said: "Can you make me the same offer?" He said, "Yes". “Then I offer it to the Muslims”.

Objectives and importance of Waqf


The purpose of Waqf is similar to the purposes of spending money as a form of ibadah. Waqf endowment fulfils the following:

Endeavour towards the forgiveness in the Hereafter Normally, when property holders indulge in gathering, developing, managing, protecting and diversifying the source of their wealth, their life, thinking and ambition become slave to its demands; hence, they become trapped in the process of protecting it. For this reason, they are more in need than others of being reminded to pay attention and aspire to the Hereafter and to seek its merits, especially through their money, complying with Almighty's saying: "But seek the abode of the Hereafter in that which Allah Hath given thee". (Qur’an 28:77)



Thanking the Benefactor, the PraiseworthyThe best form of thankfulness for a beneficent gift should be in the form of a gift of the same kind. Thus, thanking for the gift of property should be to spend from that same property, while thanking for the gift of knowledge must be through teaching and enlightening others. Bequest in the cause of Allah (SWT) is a kind of gratitude to the Beneficent, May His Sublimity be Greater, and an acknowledgement of His blessing and gift.

Purification of the soulWaqf saves the soul from the worry, fear and covetousness surrounding money and opens the heart to generous spending as the following verse indicates concerning almsgiving: “Take alms of their wealth, wherewith thou mayst purify them and mayst make them grow, and pray for them. Lo! thy prayer is an assuagement for them. Allah is Hearer, Knower“(Qur’an 9:103)



There are lofty and useful purposes that can be applied to Waqf and other types of spending in the cause of Allah (SWT) as follows:

Insuring basic needs for society and its needy classes in a lasting, guaranteed manner Short term charities for present necessities are short-lived. Societies may experience times when either these charities become scarce because the supremacy of greed and selfishness prevails, or simply because of natural disasters. Likewise, and in spite of its continuity and renewal, almsgiving may become smaller in value while the circle of poverty widens. The same thing applies to the public treasury.



The knowledgeable scholar Shah Din Wali Allah Dahlawi says: “Among the forms of giving we find Waqf. In the pre-Islamic period, people did not know about it. Thus, the Prophet (SAW) devised it for services that do not exist in other charities. People can spend a lot of money in the cause of Allah (SWT), but this money perishes, and the poor would be in need again; then other large groups of poor people arise, and remain deprived. Consequently, the best and most useful plan for the people would be to bequest something for the poor and homeless so that its benefits are spent on them while its stock (corpus) remains untouched…"



Thinking and making plans for the futurePeople should get used to thinking of the future and planning for it, with a sense of responsibility towards the future generations to come. Usually, while the bequest giver is deciding upon his bequest, he takes into consideration the needs of the coming generations.

Those who run endowment administrations have the obligation to take all these factors into consideration. Therefore, Waqf is considered as a process of anticipating and managing the future: a hereafter future for the person making the Waqf and a worldly future for the person/s benefiting from it.



Habituating people to exercise their dutiesAllah (SWT) orders and stresses spending for the cause of Allah (SWT), His religion, and all kinds of charity to all: "The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere”. (Qur’an 49:15); “Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and be not cast by your own hands to ruin; and do good. Lo! Allah loveth the beneficent” (Qur’an 2:195); “And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged. For the beggar and the destitute”. (Qur’an 70:24-25)



The Qur’an addressed mankind to spend their wealth generously whether they are of wealthy, poor or average background as quoted in this verse: “Let him who hath abundance spend of his abundance, and he whose provision is measured, let him spend of that which Allah hath given him. Allah asketh naught of any soul save that which He hath given it. Allah will vouchsafe, after hardship, ease (Qur’an 65:7) This is the verse which made the Companions spend and compete enthusiastically to spend on creating a Waqf. The whole society became involved in dealing with people's needs both for that time and also for the future generations. This activity lasted for centuries.

Properties which are Permissible for Waqf endowment


The most comprehensive analysis on whether on which properties are permissible for Waqf endownment is that of Ibn Qudama. He states: "In sum, what is permissible for Waqf endowment is what can be sold and benefited from while its capital asset remains linked with its stock such as real estate, animals, arms, furniture, etc. This means "what cannot be benefited from even though there is capital value in the asset such as Dinars, Dirhams, food and drink, candles, etc, cannot be Waqf endowed for most canonists and scholars".

Properties which are Permissible for Waqf endowment


Other texts confirmed the permissibility of endowing movable property that can be benefited from, provided it lasts for a period of time. In confirmation of this, Abu Hurayra (May Allah (SWT) be Pleased with Him), quoted the Apostle of Allah, (SAW), saying "he who bequests a horse in the cause of Allah (SWT) out of piety and consideration, then the animal's satiety, dunging and urination are all benefactions in his balance on the Day of Judgment".In 'Sahih' Al Bukhari, it is reported by Abu Hurayra that the Prophet (SAW) said that Khalid Ibn Al Walid bequeathed his armature and ammunition in the cause of Allah. Al Hafid Ibn Hajar said:" He took the story of Khalid as a proof for the legality of animal bequest".

End of Module 2


If you have any questions on this module, please contact your lecturer.

lesson 2 waqf studies

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