Page 342 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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VVAKF ADMINISTRATION

Wakf Property.—A great deal of valuable property in Bahrain, both in the towns and in the
country, including houses, shops, gardens and fish traps, has been dedicated in the past to religious
and charitable objects. These religious endowments (wakf) provide for a variety of services such
as the upkeep of mosques, salaries of mosque officials, Imams and Muezzins, and other charitable
objects. The Shia endowments are the most numerous and at a rough estimation the property
administered by the Shia Wakf Department is worth today about Rs. 12,00,000. In the case of the
Shias there are endowments for the cost of the religious celebrations during the month of Muharram,
for the expenses of their matems, institutions resembling church halls which arc centres of town and
village communal life where during the first ten days of the month of Muharram the hired preachers
tell the story of the Shia martyrs to enormous audiences, for assisting poor pilgrims to go on the
Pilgrimage, for providing marriage money for Saiyyids and for prayers for the dead. Besides the
property which is dedicated to general religious purposes much property is entailed, in perpetuity
to the descendants of the erectors of original foundations, a permanent entail, and other property
forms part of the " Thilth ", being the one-third of an estate which is dedicated to charity, either
for the needy descendants of the original dedicator or for distribution in alms to the poor in his memory.
Property which is wakf, either public or private, gradually increases and often gives rise to difficult
problems as it is inviolable and cannot be bought or sold.
Control Taken Over by a Committee.—Until 1364 (1927-28) all wakf property was in the
hands of the Sunni and Shia Qadis or was administered by individuals who were sufficiently powerful
to retain the administration in their hands. Only a small proportion of the funds found its way to
the people and to the institutions which were supposed to benefit. The first move which the Govern­
ment made to deal with the matter was through the Shias, who showed more interest in wakf adminis­
tration than the Sunnis. When a young new Shia Qadi Sayed Adnan was appointed in 1345 (1927)
to replace Shaikh Khalaf, who was dismissed for irregular practices, he was encouraged to begin
the work of compiling a register of all Shia wakf property in Bahrain and to institute proper methods
of leases and accounts. Sayed Adnan died about a year after he was appointed but during that year
he did very valuable work and his record formed a basis for the Wakf Department which aftenvards
came into being. His executor, Shaikh Mohammed Ali at Madani, took over the administration of
wakf property. This arrangement was distasteful to most of the Shias who mistrusted him, with reason
as it aftenvards transpired for he too was found guilty of misappropriating funds belonging to some
minors and orphans. When two new Qadis were appointed one of them, Shaikh Ali bin Hassan,
refused to have any dealings with wakf funds, the other, Shaikh Abdulla bin Mohammed Saleh, tried
to get them into his hands, the latter too was dismissed from his post some years later for misappro­
priation of trust money. At this point the Shias petitioned to the Government, which they knew would
not be unsympathetic, asking that wakf property should at once and for all times be taken from
the hands of the Qadis. A committee of leading Shias was formed with six members from the villages
and four from the towns and the control and administration of wakf property was vested in their
hands. These developments took some time and were only finally accomplished after a remarkable
amount of bickering, intrigue and general excitement.

There had been a previous attempt, before 1346 (1927-28) by the Government to take over
the wakf property from the Qadis but the time was then not ripe and the measures which the Govern­
ment proposed raised such fanatical opposition that the plan was hurriedly dropped. At that time
both Sunni and Shia Qadis wielded great influence and as they did not wish to lose control of wakf
property they stirred up the people to oppose the Government. In 1346 the Shia community, about
half of the population, themselves wished to have a say in wakf administration and they appealed to
the Government to take the very action that they had opposed a few years before.
By 1349 (I930*3I) the Shia Wakf Department had become an established institution in no way
controlled by the Shia Qadis who were only referred to by the council on questions concerning Shera
law. The registration of wakf property was made compulsory, all wakf lands were leased by the
department which collected the rents and paid the collections to the beneficiaries, no payments were
made without the approval of the committee and sub-committees were responsible for visiting and