Potential of Waqf in Contemporary World

Waqf resources which once used to finance the social welfare needs of the Muslim society, have now lost much of their vigor due to the economic ill-health of Muslims. Now, as new awqāf are not created often, a short-term measure to overcome the problem is to develop the existing awqāf and also to consider certain such measures which may enhance the income generation capability and administrative well-being of awqāf. With this in view, this brief write-up discusses in relative detail the issues inherent in the development of awqāf, better utilization of cash waqf, debate on perpetuity of waqf, state intervention and also whether origin of trust lies in waqf and a futuristic model of waqf management by separating religious awqāf (like mosques, graveyards, etc.) and secular awqāf so as to confine state intervention to secular awqāf alone.