Lesson 2 Waqf Studies

Module 2
Waqf 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.

Waqf endowment
“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.

Waqf endowment
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)

Waqf endowment
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)

Waqf endowment
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)

Waqf
Thanking the Benefactor, the Praiseworthy
The 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 soul
Waqf 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)

Waqf
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.

Waqf
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…"

Waqf
Thinking and making plans for the future
People 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.

Waqf
Habituating people to exercise their duties
Allah (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)

Waqf
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
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on this
module,
please contact
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Lesson 2 Waqf Studies

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