Page 37 - Zakat & Waqf: Impact on Women and Community Development

Zakat & Waqf: Impact on Women and Community Development | 27
© Zakat & Waqf: Impact on Women and Community Development
ISBN 978-967-####-##-#

Waqf is coined from the word "Waqafa" that carries the meaning of
'lasting forever', ‘causing something to stop and be still’, ‘containing’,
‘preventing’ and ‘preserving (Ahmed, 2004). Waqf generally is defined
as a holding maal in the form of wealth such as assets for moral
interests and/or philanthropic objectives (Razak, 2020; Suhaimi, 2021;
Mohsin et al, 2016; Al Zobair, & Hoque, 2019). Waqf is a financial
instrument that entails property payments for the benefit of others,
either for the community or an individual (Razak,2020; Arif, 2014).
According to Magda et al. (2016), waqf is defined as a financial
benevolent established by holding either immovable and/or movable
property by spending their incomes to meet public and/or family
needs forever, based on the preferences and conditions of the initiator.
When a waqf is created, the property cannot be given as a gift,
inherited, or sold. Allah (SWT) owns it, and the waqf property remains
intact (Mohsin, 2021). Only the revenue it generates is distributed to
its beneficiaries (Razak, 2020).

Waqf can be divided into three (3) categories, namely economic assets,
social assets, and cash waqf. Economic assets can be income-
producing enterprises such as rentable shops, houses, farms, shares in
companies or businesses and others that fall into this category
(Suhaimi, 2021; Mohsin et al, 2016; Al Zobair, & Hoque, 2019).
Another category of waqf is social assets such as fixed assets or capital
assets such as schools, mosques, madrasahs, health care, centres, water,
and sanitation facilities (Suhaimi, 2021; Mohsin et al, 2016; Al Zobair,
& Hoque, 2019). The final category of waqf is cash waqf that can be
transferred to the recipient through currency and/or gift bonds to
meet social protection systems (Yusoff, et al, 2022; Suhaimi, 2021).
Jamaluddin et al, (2022) proposed the cash waqf in the form of crowd
funding to provide financial aids for Muslim single mother
entrepreneurs in Malaysia. In the case of Bangladesh, they have used
waqf to end SDG1 (poverty eradication) through several strategies, and

26