The administration of the Waqf is headed by a director (or sometimes “director general”) who directs the civil administration of the holy sites. [1] [4] The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is responsible for Islamic religious affairs at the site. The Supreme Muslim Council is the Islamic judicial body that regulates matters under Islamic law in Israel. The Palestinian Authority has parallel organizations that claim interests in the same issues (i.e., the Ministry of the Islamic Waqf of the Palestinian Authority,[5] the Grand Mufti of the Palestinian Authority, or the Palestinian Supreme Council of the Fatwa,[6] and these should not be confused with those recognized by Israel, even if some of the same people hold both positions. However, in 2013, an agreement was signed between the Palestinian Authority (represented by Mahmoud Abbas) and King Abdullah II of Jordan, recognizing Jordan`s role in administering jerusalem`s holy sites. [7] This agreement replaced a decades-old oral agreement. [7] The founding statement is usually a written document accompanied by an oral statement, although most scientists do not require one or the other. Whatever the explanation, most scholars (those of the Hanafi, Shafi`i, some Hanbali and Imami Shi`a schools) believe that it is not binding and irrevocable until it is actually handed over to the beneficiaries or put into service. Once used, however, the Waqf becomes an institution in its own right.
[13] In another hadith, the Prophet Muhammad said, “When a man dies, only three actions will survive him: continuous almsgiving, profitable knowledge, and a child praying for him.” [12] [Revision required] In ancient English-language works related to late 19th and early 20th century law, the word for waqf was vakouf; [6] The word, which also appears in such French works, was used at the time of the Ottoman Empire and comes from the Turkish vakıf. [7] Bahaeddin Yediyıldız defines the Waqf as a system composed of three elements: Hayrat, Akarat and Waqf. Hayrat, the plural form of hayr, means “goodness” and refers to the motivating factor behind the vakıf organization; Akarat refers to corpus and literally means “real estate”, which implies income-generating sources such as markets (Bedestens, Aristas, Hans, etc.), land, baths; And waqf, in the narrow sense, is the institution(s) that provides services, as specified in the vakıf document such as madrasas, public kitchens (imarets), karwansarays, mosques, libraries, etc. [9] Beneficiaries of the Waqf can be individuals and public services. The founder can indicate which persons are entitled to benefits (e.g. B the family of the founder, the whole community, only the poor, the travelers). Public services such as mosques, schools, bridges, cemeteries and drinking fountains can be the beneficiaries of a waqf. Modern legislation divides the waqf into “charitable purposes” where the beneficiaries are the public or the poor) and “families” waqf, where the founder makes beneficiaries his parents. There may also be several beneficiaries.
For example, the founder may stipulate that half of the proceeds go to his family, while the other half goes to the poor. [13] After Islamic Waqf law and madrasah foundations were firmly established in the 10th century, the number of Bimaristan hospitals in Islamic countries multiplied. In the 11th century, many Islamic cities had several hospitals. The Waqf`s trust institutions funded the hospitals for various expenses, including the salaries of doctors, ophthalmologists, surgeons, chemists, pharmacists, domestic workers and all other employees, the purchase of food and medicine; hospital equipment such as beds, mattresses, bowls and perfumes; and building repairs. The items themselves should not be haram (for example.B. wine or pork). These objects must not already be in the public domain: public ownership cannot be used to configure a WAQF. Nor can the founder have previously pledged the property to someone else. These terms generally apply to contracts in Islam. [13] Under the Wakf Act 1954 (later Wakf Act 1995) enacted by the Government of India, Wakfs are classified as (a) Wakf of users such as cemeteries, Musafir Khanas (Sarai) and Chowltries, etc., (b) Wakf under Mashrutul-khidmat (Inam Service) such as Khazi Service, Nirkhi Service, Pesh Imam Service and Khateeb Service, etc., and (c) Wakf Alal-aulad is used by the donor (Wakif) for the benefit of his children and relatives and for any purpose. Recognized by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable.
After the passage of the Wakf Act of 1954, the Union government asked all state governments to apply the law to administer Wakf institutions such as mosques, dargah, ashurkhanas, cemeteries, takhiyas, iddgahs, imambara, anjumans, and various religious and charitable institutions. [21] A statutory body under the Government of India, which also oversees the boards of directors of the state Wakf. [22] In return, the state Wakf boards work on the management, regulation and protection of Wakf properties by forming district wakf committees, Mandal Wakf committees, and committees for the various Wakf institutions. [21] According to the Sakhar Committee report (2006), there are about 500,000 wakfs registered in India with 600,000 acres (2,400 km2) of land and a book value of 60 billion rupees. [23] [24] A waqf is a contract, so the founder (called al-wāqif or al-muḥabbis in Arabic) must be able to enter into a contract. The founder must: The first pious foundations in Egypt were charitable donations, not in the form of a waqf. The first mosque built by `Amr ibn al-`As is an example: the land was donated by Qaysaba bin Kulthum, and the expenses of the mosque were later paid for by Bayt al-mal. The oldest known waqf, founded in 919 (during the Abbasid period) by tax agent Abū Muḥammad bin Ali al-Madhara`i, is a pond called Birkat Ḥabash with the surrounding orchards, the proceeds of which were to be used to operate a hydraulic complex and feed the poor. The practices attributed to Muhammad have favored the institution of the waqf since the first part of Islamic history.
[17] Israel occupied the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in June 1967. After the end of hostilities, Israel allowed the Waqf to retain its authority over the Temple Mount (Haram esh-Sharif). [3] Valid beneficiaries must meet the following conditions:[13] Normally, a Waqf has a number of beneficiaries. . . . .