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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.

The present paper aims to propose a viable alternative model for human capital development (HCD), termed as the integrated cash waqf micro enterprises investment (ICWME-I) model, which is expected to contribute to the development of micro enterprises in Malaysia.

This is a conceptual paper for the development of the ICWME-I model. It is purely qualitative in nature, using content analysis. It comprehensively reviews the literature related to HCD issues faced by micro enterprises and existing studies related to cash waqf (Islamic endowment) to construct the ICWME-I model.

The proposed ICWME-I model is specially designed for HCD of micro enterprises. It is an appropriate initiative to upgrade micro enterprises through HCD programmes by ensuring proper utilization of cash waqf funds to build modern training centres at subsidized costs with state-of-the-art facilities. The training centres would subsidize the participation fees of micro enterprises and provide them with facilities to undertake education and training programmes, as well as other kinds of activities for upgrading, improving and enhancing human capital capacity and skills of micro enterprises. The potential challenges of the ICWME-I model are also highlighted in this study.

This paper attempts to construct the ICWME-I model based on an extensive review of literature related to micro enterprises, cash waqf and HCD. Among its major limitations is the fact that the ICWME-I model is not empirically validated and tested in this research. This can be carried out in future studies.

The present study could have an enormous impact on micro entrepreneurs via HCD programmes. The most important impact would be on government budgets, as this ICWME-I model is expected to generate its own funds from cash waqf for micro enterprises’ HCD.

This paper brings forward an original and viable model to develop human capital for micro enterprises development. This model involves the building of training centres using cash waqf raised from donors.

The potential of waqf is so great in Indonesia but has not been optimized. This paper aims to offer a model for waqf institutions to adopt financial technology for developing productive and social waqf. The authors cunduct an assesment of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM3), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) in seeing to the crowdfunders’ behavior.

This study adopted a structural equation using the partial least square approach to test the hypotheses. Based on purposive sampling, the spread of questionnaires through online surveys throughout Indonesia consists of all islands. A total of 297 respondents collected the questionnaires.

Based on the findings, acceptance models have a positive and significant impact on the behavioral intentions of crowdfunders, while Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology have no significant effect.

The sample of this study involved potential crowdfunders from all over the islands in Indonesia, but these results cannot be generalized because of limitations in terms of the sampling technique used. However, the results of this study can be used as an illustration of how crowdfunders behave in donating money using financial technology.

The results of this study provide a comprehensive perspective for policymakers, especially the Indonesian Waqf Board as the waqf authority that regulates waqf nazir to improve quality by adopting crowdfunding financial technology in collecting waqf funds. In addition, in terms of implications for the government, this waqf crowdfunding model will reduce spending and increase economic growth.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first in looking at the waqf crowdfunding in Indonesia by looking at two reliable technology determinant models. Studies on cash waqf in Indonesia are many, but they do not look at the issue of crowdfunding, which has gained more attention recently. This paper aims to fill this gap, and this becomes the novelty.