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This paper aims to study waqf practice in Pakistan with regard to its utilisation in funding for higher educational institutions (HEIs) and investigates waqf raising, waqf management and waqf income utilisation.

The paper is based on the views of 11 participants who are actively involved in the waqf, its raising, management and income utilisation, and is divided into three subcategories: personnel of higher educational waqf institution, personnel of waqf regulatory bodies and Shari’ah and legal experts as well as archival records, documents and library sources.

In Pakistan, both public and private awqaf are existing, but the role of private awqaf is greater in higher education funding. However, due to lack of legal supervision private awqaf is considered as a part of the not-for-profit sector and legitimately registered as a society, foundation, trust or a private limited company. Waqf in Pakistan is more focusing on internal financial sources and waqf income. In terms of waqf management, they have firm guidelines for investing in real estate, the Islamic financial sector and various halal businesses. Waqf uses the income for developmental and operational expenditure, and supports academic activities for students and staff. Waqfs are also supporting some other HEIs and research agencies. Thus, it can be revealed that a waqf can cater a sufficient amount for funding higher educational institutions.

In Pakistan, both public and private awqaf are equally serving society in different sectors, but the role of private awqaf is much greater in funding higher education. Nevertheless, the government treats private awqaf as a part of not-for-profit sector in the absence of a specific legal framework and registers such organisations as society, foundation, trust or private limited company. The waqf in Pakistan mostly relies on internal financial resources and income from waqf assets. As the waqf managers have over the time evolved firm guidelines for investment in real estate, Islamic financial sector and various other halal businesses, and utilisation of waqf income on developmental and operational expenditures, academic activities of students and educational staff, other HEIs and research agencies, it can be proved that the waqf can potentially generate sufficient amount for funding HEIs.

The study presents the waqf as a social finance institution and the best alternative fiscal instrument for funding works of public good, including higher education, with the help of three selected waqf cases. Hence, the paper’s findings offer some generalisations, both for the ummah at large and Pakistan.

The paper makes several policy recommendations for policymakers, legislators and academicians, especially the government. As an Islamic social finance institution, the waqf can help finance higher education anywhere around the world in view of the fact that most countries grapple with huge fiscal deficits and are hence financially constrained to meet growing needs of HEIs.

The study confirms that the waqf can be an alternative source for funding higher education institutions whether it is managed by the government or is privately controlled.

This paper aims to highlight the importance of waqf in financing higher educational institutions (HEIs) and its potential as an alternative source of generating additional funds for the HEIs, and discourses on waqf practice, fundraising, waqf management and utilisation of waqf income for the development of higher education in Malaysia.

This paper is based on the information gathered through interviews with 12 participants who are actively engaged in waqf in different capacities. The participants can easily be classified into three expert groups; personnel of waqf-based universities, personnel of the respective State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) and waqf practitioners. In addition, archival records, relevant documents and library sources have been used in the research.

The study learnt that waqf in Malaysia is centralised and exclusively controlled by the SIRCs, which are, as a rule, sole trustees of all categories of awqaf in the respective states; hence, any form of private trusteeship is considered illegal. It is a prerequisite for the establishment of a waqf fund to obtain permission from the respective SIRCs, and bring it under the purview of the council prior to setting up a waqf. The ministry of higher education has taken some initiatives to encourage HEIs to use waqf as an alternative source of generating funds. Subsequently, numerous public universities have set up waqf funds and developed a comprehensive mechanism for raising the fund through traditional and modern methods and technologies. A major chunk of the waqf funds is collected in the form of cash, but the amount falls short of reaching critical mass to enable the waqf to become self-sustaining. The study found that the universities also involved themselves in various social welfare programmes, especially in health care, and some income-generating projects besides seeking support from the waqf fund for their academic and educational activities.

The paper brings out the fact that waqf offers the best features as an alternative fiscal instrument to finance projects of public good, including higher education at three selected waqf-based universities in Malaysia.

The study’s findings will be helpful to the ummah in general and Malaysia in particular. It can help policymakers, legislators and academicians in formulating new strategies for the common good and sensitize the countries facing a huge fiscal deficit and lack of development to the viability and potential of waqf as a catalyst for progress and economic activity.

The paper shares the experience of Malaysia’s waqf-based universities, waqf fundraising, management and income utilisation. It accentuates the fact that waqf can help finance academic activities at universities and sheds light on some useful examples of waqf-based universities founded in earlier periods of Islamic civilisation.

This study aims to examine whether the financial reporting practices of organisations managing waqf (Islamic endowed trust funds) are Sharia-compliant.

This paper reports on a case study of two Islamic-based organisations that manage waqf. The financial statements of these organisations are analysed using content analysis to assess their compliance with the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) Sharia Standard No. 33 (SS 33) on waqf.

The authors found that both Islamic-based organisations use different sets of accounting procedures and practices, but that these accounting practices do not contradict the Sharia requirements prescribed in the SS 33 on waqf. However, the SS 33 on waqf requires that waqf funds to be utilised as stipulated by the waqif (donor) and that the accounting practices of both organisations do not adequately address this disclosure requirement. This study also found that the existing accounting practices adopted by organisations that manage waqf need to incorporate more disclosure on their Sharia-based financing and their investment of waqf funds.

This study found that the AAOIFI’s SS33 on waqf is a useful guide for identifying the gap between Sharia principles and conventional financial reporting practices for non-profit organisations, and that there are aspects of Sharia-based disclosure practices that are not adequately implemented in financial reporting practices of institutions managing waqf.

This study proposes two essential Sharia-based disclosure practices for Islamic-based organisations that manage Islamic-based funds such as waqf. These two aspects are the disclosure on whether waqf funds are adequately utilised as stipulated by the waqif (donor) and what modifications to their existing financial reporting of their Sharia-based financing and investments are required to comply with the unique nature of waqf.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how Sharia principles can be incorporated into the financial reporting practices of organisations that manage Islamic-based funds such as waqf.

The purpose of this article is to highlight the importance of waqf in financing higher education. Nowadays, higher education is costly and this has prevented students, especially those who are self-financed, from accessing such learning environments. This paper offer an alternative solution to relieve such a situation, namely, through the application of an endowment-based or waqf educational institution. The study suggests a way to establish an endowment university by concentrating the discussion on the concept and principles of its establishment, as well as sharing the experiences of the Malaysian waqf universities and the Turkish Foundation Universities/Vakif Üniversitesi in financing their universities using waqf, i.e. a pious endowment instrument.

The empirical data were mainly collected using in-depth interviews with the universities’ higher management authorities and some of the members of the board of trustees.

The findings show that the role of waqf or pious endowment is significant in providing financial assistance to their communities as well as strengthening their academic quality. In addition, tawhidic epistemology together with morality and ethics have influenced waqf donors or founders to donate their wealth and property to enrich and sustain universities and higher education.

This article provides the experiences of the Malaysian Waqf Universities and the Turkish Foundation Universities/Vakif Üniversitesi in financing their universities using waqf. It also contains some good examples from the experience of several earlier Islamic civilizations, in particular those of the Ottoman Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt. In addition, examples of the implementation of waqf and endowment-based universities in the UK and USA as well as the Al-Azhar University of Egypt is also included.

This paper aims to measure the financial sustainability and vulnerability of state-managed waqf institutions in Malaysia.

The study mainly applied the commonly used Tuckman and Chang’s (1991) model to measure the financial health of non-profits. Content and ratio analysis of the 2014 audited reports of seven institutions were used to determine their equity balance, revenue concentration, administrative costs and operating margin ratios.

The results indicate that only one waqf institution was financially sustainable in all the four components.

Because the data used are not the latest and focussed only on a single year, the findings may not be necessarily true, currently. Second, the study focussed only on Malaysia. Thus, the results may not be generalisable to other waqfs in other countries or to privately managed waqf institutions. Accordingly, future research should address these limitations.

The findings provide useful insights into the financial sustainability of waqf institutions and highlight the need for policymakers in Malaysia and other Muslim countries to give due attention to the holistic accountability of waqf institutions to ensure waqf’s systematic revival.

The paper, being the first to investigate the financial sustainability and vulnerability of state waqf institutions in Malaysia, serves as a reference for future researchers.

This study aims to assess enterprise risk management (ERM) practices in waqf institutions (WIs) along with their strengths and weaknesses; highlight ERM trends in WIs; and determine the best ERM practices for these institutions.

Data were collected via structured interviews with nine WI managers in Malaysia. A standardised questionnaire was adopted for the interviews, which focussed on ERM implementation in WIs. The collected data were analysed in three steps, namely, data reduction, data display and verification/conclusion. The frequency distribution of these data were then illustrated and the mean values and differences of the studied groups/variables were examined.

WIs have a sub-optimal ERM implementation, whose aspects need to be improved over time. These institutions have focussed on their ERM practices at the strategic level yet ignored those at the operational level. Specifically, WI officers have well-defined internal environments and objectives, but risk monitoring, which ensures effective implementation of ERM, is lacking. The presence of risk management committees and units may be linked with the successful implementation of ERM. However, ERM knowledge and top management support do not show clearly associations with ERM implementation. WIs should focus on improving their ERM implementation governance.

Findings underscore the need for WIs to launch a formal ERM programme and for relevant stakeholders to create the appropriate infrastructures that support ERM implementation, including amended rules, ERM policies and allocated funds for training and education, to promote ERM implementation knowledge and awareness. The successful implementation of ERM not only improves the service quality, sustainability and performance of WIs but also promotes the national waqf agenda as a key economic driver.

ERM in non-profit organisations, such as WIs, has received limited research attention relative to that in profit-driven organisations despite having unique risks. To the best of the knowledge, this study is the first to identify those trends that explain ERM practices and to determine the ERM best practices of WIs.

The aim of this paper is to study the current status and development of waqf lands in Malaysia, specifically in the state of Selangor, Malaysia and propose a new model for categorisation of its waqf lands. Previous studies on waqf lands and allocation of financial resources on these lands have been general and scanty.

They lack the focus of categorising waqf lands according to sectors, economic attributes and strategic locations so that it was not easy to match these lands to the kind of resources and investment models required for their development. The present research is carried out to categorise waqf lands and prioritise them according to four major sectors, namely agriculture, commercial, residential and religious

The study is quantitative in nature and uses a multi criteria decision-making method, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritise the waqf lands by taking inputs from the officers working in Selangor Islamic Religious Council and some other related organisations. The study concludes with recommendations and suggestions for future research.

I have proposed a new model for the categorisation of waqf lands. Previous studies on waqf lands and its allocation of financial resources have been general and revealing. The present research is carried out to categorise waqf lands and prioritise them according to four major sectors, namely agriculture, commercial, residential and religious.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to establish an effective governance framework for waqf (Islamic endowment) in the Republic of Guinea that would assist in enhancing socio-economic activities and eradicating poverty in the country.

It examines key governing features within the said country’s waqf legal framework and undertakes a comparison with other countries’ legal frameworks. This paper also examines waqf-related legal references of Guinea and other countries and analyses relevant online sources such as journal articles, research papers, webpages as well as informal discussions with persons informed on the subject matter within and outside the Republic of Guinea.

This paper identifies a number of prevailing issues affecting the development of the institution of waqf in the Republic of Guinea and, thereafter, proposes key reformatory measures. These include the passing of general codified legislation that comprehensively governs waqf affairs in the country and the setting up of a dedicated supervisory entity and competent managerial bodies to ensure the smooth and effective operation of the institution in the country.

This research proposes an innovative and befitting governance framework for waqf operations in the Republic of Guinea. These recommendations, if correctly adopted, would ensure the viability and efficacy of the institution of waqf in the Republic of Guinea and would lead to socio-economic development, as has been the case in other nations. Moreover, other countries with underdeveloped waqf governance systems could also model their waqf operations based on these recommendations, as they are most likely already encountering or going to encounter identical issues in this particular field.

This paper critically reviews and analyzes the trends in waqf studies within the Islamic economics literature. It analyzes the recent developments and debates in waqf reform and advances the argument for prioritizing research on waqf economics; the waqf dimension that is concerned with modelling how to utilize it to enhance productivity, consumption, redistribution, investment and saving, and generally contribute sustainably towards poverty reduction, economic empowerment and development.

The paper is conceptual in nature, focusing on a systematic historical analytical review of waqf studies in Islamic economics literature.

Despite the documented historic role of waqf in constructing the Muslim socio-economic architecture as the third economic sector and a mechanism for civilizational development and renewal, it received little attention in the early writings on modern Islamic economics. While the past one decade has witnessed a renewed interest in waqf research, most studies focus on its legal, juristic and administrative aspects in addition to the nostalgic reflections on its past glories. Little attention is comparatively given to the socio-economic aspect, which represents the actual raison d’être for its institutionalization.

An important task ahead of the current generation of Islamic economists is to formulate waqf-based development models that are rooted in proper diagnosis and deep understanding of the current socio-economic realities of the OIC member countries for the purpose of uplifting living standards and stimulating sustainable socio-economic development.

The paper contributes to the debate on priorities in waqf studies and practice and can trigger further discourses and research on the future of research in waqf economics.

The purpose of this paper is to formulate a model for waqf financing of public goods and mixed public goods in Malaysia which constitute the country’s federal government expenditures. The model is built on the basis of understanding the concept of waqf, learning from waqf institutions of the past and present and addressing specific Malaysian waqf issues.

This study uses both primary and secondary data. The primary data originate from semi-structured interviews of waqf academicians from the Islamic economics and Islamic finance fields, waqf government officials and private sector institutions that are involved in waqf management. The secondary data come from the Malaysian Federal Constitution, law enactments, books, e-books, bulletins, journals, conference proceedings, government reports and websites.

By synthesizing the data, it is found that return from cash waqf investment in unit trust can be used to finance 11 items of federal government expenditures. The overall process can be managed by Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia through a collaboration with an Islamic unit trust firm.

This research shows how waqf can practically assist the Malaysian federal government in financing public goods and mixed public goods. It indirectly shows an alternative source of financing for these goods. Other economies can also learn and adapt from the model developed in this paper.

This paper attempts to revive the function of waqf as a provider of public goods and mixed public goods from Islamic history. Inadvertently, this paper also introduces waqf as a possible fiscal tool.