Waqf
A waqf is an endowment: an asset such as land, a building, or funds, set aside permanently for a charitable or religious purpose. Its principal is not meant to be sold or inherited, only its benefit distributed. Mosques, schools, and wells have historically been established this way.
Often appears in
See the term in context
Does Shafi'i hold the view that waqf is not valid except through verbal declaration, and that intention alone is not sufficient? And does this apply to gifts and other financial transactions?
The صيغة (expression or declaration) is one of the pillars of the waqf contract according to the Shafi'is. For its validity, it requires a clear verbal utterance, either explicit or implicit, like the words for freeing…
Is it permissible to sell (long-term lease) waqf land that has become dilapidated in order to construct a new waqf with its proceeds, and is zakat obligatory on these proceeds?
If the house is ruined and the land is rented for a sum, this sum is considered revenue for the endowment (waqf) and is owned by the beneficiaries, who may dispose of it as they wish. It is not obligatory to make this…
Is it permissible to establish an endowment (waqf) that deprives females of inheritance, and is this considered a circumvention of Allah's division?
Designating some children for waqf (endowment) to the exclusion of others, without a legitimate Sharia justification, is a matter of scholarly disagreement. The preponderant view is that it is impermissible, similar to…
Questions that use it
Should a mother's will to dedicate her two houses as a waqf for the needy among her children after her death be carried out, and would the second floor, which the sister built with her own money in one of the two houses, also be considered part of the waqf?
Is the condition stipulated by the property owner, that two pounds be given monthly for Quranic recitations (khatmat) and 40 piasters for the carriers of the Book of Allah (hafizat al-kitab), considered an irrevocable charitable endowment (waqf khayri)? And must the heirs pay 4000 pounds monthly to the Endowments Authority (Hay’at al-Awqaf) for this share, despite their having converted the ground floor into shops at their own expense?
How is an inheritance divided among three sons, two daughters, and a wife, given a will to make one of the houses an endowment (waqf) and spend its annual rent on charitable projects?