Waqf

Waqf is one of the donation method carried out by Islam which the mechanism is literally similar to the concept of endowment. The eligibility of waqf was derived from the hadith of Prophet SAW which suggested Sayyidina Umar R.A. to surrender his property for the sake of Allah SWT and to donate the (benefits) out of the said property. Technically, the implementation of waqf is not as details as zakat. The condition, rules and implementation of zakat are very clear and it is compulsory for those who fell inside the criteria. Meanwhile, waqf is an optional part of the donation and being performed by those who would like to seek for pleasure of Allah SWT. An obligation of zakat will not be released by only performing waqf even if he contributed all of his wealth under waqf. 

However, a Muslims who has performed zakat and feel that he would like to have a continuation rewards beyond the grave yard from Allah SWT, he can enjoin this waqf activity as the Prophet SAW mentioned that :-

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:

The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said “When a man dies, his deeds come to an end except for three things: Sadaqah Jariyah (ceaseless charity); a knowledge which is beneficial, or a virtuous descendant who prays for him (for the deceased)” Narrated by Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 1383. 

Waqf falls under Sadaqah Jariyah (ceaseless charity) which means the charity will be benefited by others even after the donor passed away. The benefit of this charity will be utilized from one generation to other generation till the corpus has totally destroyed or damaged. However, in waqf, the chances for damaging will be very minimal as the appointment of mutawalli will take care the manner and condition on how that property or goods to be utilized. He also responsible, by using the generated income from waqf, to maintain the property to its useable condition and thus to ensuring the continuation of its corpus in giving manfaah to the beneficiaries.  

The Federal Constitution is the highest legal authority in Malaysia. It provides fundamental conditions on all important subjects which related to the segregation of duties and right between the federal and states. With regards to Waqf, it has been regulated under Item 1 of the Ninth Schedule, List 2, State List of the Constitution (Mashitoh, 2011). This item has been included under the responsibility of states in which states are the governor for the matters related to waqf within its own authority area. As a result, in each state in Malaysia, there is respective religious body which conducting the Islamic matters including Waqf. The body will be act as an agent (mutawalli) for every single waqf in the state. 

Waqf institutions are under serious critics due to the evidence to support that the waqf did not always generate the expected result (M.A. Mannan, 1999). The issues of weak administration, mismanagement and embezzlement of waqf fund are among the core problem which withhold the innovation and creativity in expanding the waqf fund and distributional issues. In Malaysia, in order to curb all the mentioned problem, the constitution has placed a full commitment by assigning the matters of waqf under the government provision. This commitment is given to ensure that waqf will be properly managed and the involved parties will get to the maximum of the benefits. 

Mutawalli

One of the key elements in our corporate waqf is Mutawalli. Monzer Kahf (Kahf, 2011) used it as a waqf manager and his/her responsibility is to administer that waqf property to the best interest of the beneficiaries and then to maximize the revenues of the beneficiaries. Based on this definition, a mutawalli will monitor a waqf property in a proper way to ensure the continuity of the existence of the assets and the beneficiaries will continue gain the ‘manfaah’ of the said property. The second part of the definition given by Monzer Kahf catered for the latest corporate waqf concept in which a mutawalli is not only a waqf keeper but he is also responsible to act in a corporate style in order to increase the value of the assets and to enhance the cash inflow of the institution and thus will maximize the revenues of the beneficiaries.

In Islam, the function and position of Mutawallis are clearly defined. His role is as a manager to manage the waqf properties is crystal clear and it is totally different compared to the other religion’s trustee concept which the role and position are not clear.

While these individuals were the ones who actually preserved the Islamic architectural heritage through the centuries and enabled many waqf to survive, it was also they who ended up being accused ruthlessly and held responsible for the demise of the system (Cizakca, 2011). In another words, Mutawallis are the nucleus in the waqf system, the success of the system is partly contributed by this center. However, the opponent of the waqf system would propagate that the failure of the system was due to the failure of the Mutawallis. Since then, the mutawallis can be considered as a captain of a ship or a pilot of a flight which the destination of a journey will safely arrive. Hiccups in a journey will first reflecting a pilot skills even it is totally caused by the weather condition.