Waqaf – An Important Institution in Islam

MAJLIS UGAMA ISLAM SINGAPURA

FRIDAY SERMON

6 OCTOBER 2000  /  8 REJAB 1421

Waqaf – An Important Institution in Islam

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَوْرَثَنَا اْلأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّءُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ حَيْثُ نَشَاءُ ، فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِيْنَ ، أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لاَ شَرِيْكَ لَهْ ،وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُوْلُهْ ، اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلىَ آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ.

أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَيَا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ ، اِتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ، أُوْصِي نَفْسِي وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِتَقْوَى اللَّهِ فَقَدْ فَازَ الْمُتَّقُوْنَ.

Maasyiral Muslimin,

Let us reaffirm our taqwa to Allah by doing all that Allah commands and refraining from doing all that Allah forbids.

 

One of the practices for us to reaffirm our taqwa to Allah is by giving away our property as waqaf.  Waqaf is a special ibadah for us Muslims as it was not bestowed to the ummah before us.

Islam encourages its followers to spend their wealth for all that is good and for welfare purposes.  Allah says in surah Ali-Imran, ayah 92:

لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ  .

Which means: By no means shall you attain righteousness unless you give (freely) of that which you love; and whatever you give, Allah knows it well.

Waqaf is also another avenue for welfare.  In addition, the rewards from waqaf is greater than donation and also to the person doing the waqaf and the community.  This is because as the waqaf is forever, the benefit derived would also be forever, as long as the waqaf still stands. Rasulullah s.a.w. said:

إِذَا مَاتَ ابْنُ ءَادَمَ انْقَطَعَ عَمَلُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ ثَلاَثٍ : صَدَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ أَوْ عِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ أَوْ وَلَدٍ صَالَحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ. 

Which means: When Adam’s son dies, his good deeds will stop except for three things: his alms (for example waqaf), knowledge which benefits and his pious children who offer doa for him.

My brothers,

Because the reward from waqaf is special and continuous, there are several conditions for an item to be considered a waqaf.

First: Benefit must be able to be derived from the item to be waqaf.

Second: The item must be able to give continuous benefit.

Third:  It is used to do waqaf for a certain purpose only.

Fourth: The waqaf item is only for good purposes.

Fifth:  The person doing the waqaf must fully own the item.

Alhamdulillah, nowadays, the ulama and the intellectuals recognised that waqaf is seen to be a potential source for the development of the ummah.  It should be channelled for the ummah's development in accordance with syariah's requirement.

My brothers,

The management and development of waqaf property has been expanded. Buildings are being constructed to be rented out and for commercial purposes, as long as the objective is in line with Islam.  Besides that, the waqaf property is also developed to take care of and to benefit the poor, needy and orphans.

The ulamas’ and intellectuals’ role in handling the enforcement and the waqaf property also include monitoring and correcting the management of the waqaf that is unused and run by non-Muslims, for business or trading.

To handle the problem and the issue, the ulama must continually assess the development of the waqaf by taking care of and give priority to the poor, the orphans and the ummah.

Hopefully, with the awareness and cooperation of all parties, the function of waqaf can be developed and expanded as practiced during the time of Rasulullah s.a.w. and Khulafa-Arrasyidin.

The success of waqaf development would depend on the clear understanding of the ummah with regards to the concept, role and objective of the waqaf.  It is our responsibility as Muslims to together reinstate the waqaf to its previous status for it to be able to be come an institution that can develop the Muslim community and towards success.

Ma’asyiral muslimin rahimakumullah,

At present among the Islamic community, there are very few individuals who have the desire to waqaf.  In the past, the Muslims strive towards finding and accumulating wealth.  And if there is any excess, they will use it for welfare and waqaf.  For example, Waqaf Kassim that has been redeveloped by Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura has benefited the Muslim community in Singapore.  However, presently, the case is different.  A lot of us strive towards finding and accumulating wealth but for our own personal luxury.

For the benefit of the ummah, we should not only donate but we should also waqaf.  Saiyidina Othman bin Affan turn his well into waqaf property. And there are numerous other well-known personalities who have turn their wealth to waqaf that we can follow as examples

Therefore, for those who are wealthy, do not hesitate to waqaf for the for the benefit of Islam and the ummah and also for the benefit of the waqafer himself in the hereafter.

بَارَكَ الله لِي وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْعَظِيمِ ، وَنَفَعَنِي وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِمَا فِيهِ مِنَ الآيَاتِ وَالِّذكْرِ الْحَكِيمِ ، وَتَقَبَّلَ مِنِّي وَمِنْكُمْ تِلاوَتَهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ ، أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ الله الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ، وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ ، وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ فَيَا فَوْزَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ وَيَا نَجَاةَ التَّائِبِينَ.