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A waqf (وقف, plural اوقاف, awqāf; vakıf) is an inalienable religious endowment in Islam, typically devoting a building or plot of land for Muslim religious or charitable purposes. It is conceptually similar to the common law trust.

Islamic texts
The institution of waqf is not mentioned in the Qur'an, but is rather derived from a number of hadith (traditions of the prophet Muhammad).

In one hadith, Umar acquired some property and, after advice from the prophet,

"gave it away as alms [in the sense] that the land itself was not to be sold, inherited or donated. He gave it away as alms for the poor, the relatives, the slaves, the d̲j̲ihād, the travelers and the guests. And it will not be held against him who administers it if he consumes some of it(s yield) in an appropriate manner or feeds a friend who does not enrich himself by means of it."

In another hadith, prophet Muhammad said, "When a man dies, only three deeds will survive him: continuing alms, profitable knowledge and a child praying for him."

Founding
Islamic law puts several legal conditions on the process of establishing a waqf.

Founder
Like all contracts, founding a wakf is also treated as one. Therefore the founder (called al-wāqif or al-muḥabbis in Arabic) must be of capacity to produce a contract:
 * be an adult
 * be sound of mind
 * capable of handling financial affairs
 * not under interdiction for bankruptcy

Although waqf is an Islamic institution, being a Muslim is not required to establish a waqf, and dhimmis may establish a waqf. Finally if a person is fatally ill, the waqf is subject to the same restrictions as will in Islam.

Property
The property (called al-mawqūf or al-muḥabbas) used to found a waqf must be objects of a valid contract. This means the founder must have control over the object; for example fishes in the sea would not suffice. The objects should not be illegal in Islam (e.g. wine or pork). Finally these objects should already be in the public domains. Thus, public property can't be used to establish a waqf, the property must be the founder's own. The founder can't also have pledged the property previously to someone else. These conditions are generally true for contracts in Islam.

The property dedicated to waqf is generally immovable, such as estate. All movable goods can also form into waqf, according to most Islamic jurists. The Hanafis, however, also allow most movable goods to be deidcated to a waqf with some restrictions. Some jurists have argued that even gold and silver (or other currency) can be designated as waqf.

Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries of the waqf can be persons and public utilities. The founder can specify which persons are eligible for benefit (such the founder's family, entire community, only the poor, travellers). Public utilities such as mosques, schools, bridges, graveyards and drinking fountains, can be the beneficiaries of a waḳf. Modern legislation divides the waqf as "charitable causes", in which the beneficiaries are the public or the poor) and "family" waqf, in which the founder makes the beneficiaries his relatives. There can also be multiple beneficiaries. For example the founder may stipulate that half the proceeds o for his family, while the other half go to the poor.

Valid beneficiaries must satisfy the following conditions:
 * They must be identifiable. Atleast some of the beneficiaries must also exist at the time of the founding of the waqf. The Mālikīs, however, hold that a waqf may exist for some time without beneficiaries, whence the proceeds accumulate are given to beneficiaries once they come into existence. An example of a non-existent beneficiary is an unborn child.


 * The beneficiaries must not be at war with the Muslims. Scholars stress that non-Muslim citizens of the Islamic state (dhimmi) can definitely be beneficiaries.


 * The beneficiaries may not use the waqf for a purpose in contradiction of Islamic principles.

There is dispute over whether the founder himself can reserve exclusive rights to use waqf. Most scholars agree that once the waqf is founded, it can't be taken back.

The Ḥanafīs hold that the list of beneficiaries include a perpetual element; the waqf must specify its beneficiaries in case.

Declaration of founding
The declaration of founding is usually a written document, accompanied by a verbal declaration, though neither are required by most scholars. In some cases even, a waqf can be founded by committing actions that imply the intention of establishing a waqf. For example, if a person builds a mosque and allows other to pray in it regularly, or if someone builds a graveyard and allows others to bury their dead, then these actions are regarded tantamount to founding a waqf.

Whatever the declaration, most scholars (those of the Hanafi, Shafi'i, some of the Hambali and the Imami Shi'i schools) hold that it is not binding and irrevocable until actually delivered to the beneficiaries or put in their use. Once in their use, however, the waqf becomes an institution in its own right.

Administration
Usually a waqf has a range of beneficiaries. Thus, the founder makes arrangements beforehand by appointing and administrator (called nāẓir or mutawallī or ḳayyim) and lays down the rules for appointing successive administrators. The founder, may himself choose to administer the waqf during his lifetime. In some cases, however, the number of beneficiaries are quite limited. Thus, there is no need for an administrator, and the beneficiaries themselves can take care of the waqf (since they are regarded the virtual owners).

The administrator, like other persons of responsibility under Islamic law, must have capacity to act and contract. In addition, trustworthiness and administration skills are required. Some scholars require that the administrator of this Islamic religious institution be a Muslim, though the Hanafis drop this requirement.

Extinction
Awqaf are intended to be perpetual and last forever. Nevertheless, Islamic law envisages conditions under which the waqf may be terminated:
 * If the goods of the waqf are destroyed or damaged. Scholars interpret this as the case where goods are no longer used in the manner intended by the founder. The remains of the goods are to be reverted to the founder or his/her heirs. Other scholars, however, hold that all possibilities must be examined to see if the goods of the waqf can be used at all, exhausting all methods of exploitation before the termination. Thus, land, according to such jurists, can never become extinguished.
 * A waḳf can be declared null and void by the ḳāḍī, or religious judge, if its formation includes comitting acts otherwise illegal in Islam, or it does not satisfy the conditions of validity, or if it is against the notion of philanthropy. Since waqf is an Islamic institution it becomes void if the founder converts to another religion.
 * According to the Mālikī school of thought, the termination of the waqf may be specified in its founding declaration. As the waqf would expire whenever its termination conditions are fulfilled (e.g. the last beneficiary). The waqf property then returns to the founder, his/her heirs, or whoever is to receive it.

History
The practices attributed to the prophet Muhammad, have promoted the institution of waqf from the earliest part of Islamic history.

Egypt
The earliest pious foundations in Egypt were charitable gifts, and not in the form of a waqf. The first mosque built by 'Amr ibn al-'As is an example of this: the land was donated by Ḳaysaba b. Kult̲h̲ūm, and the mosque's expenses were then paid by the Bayt al-Māl (state treasury). The earliest known waqf, founded by financial official Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-Mād̲h̲arāʾī in 919 (during the Abbāsid period), is a pond called Birkat Ḥabas̲h̲ together with its surrounding orchards, whose revenue was to be used to operate a hydraulic complex and feed the poor.

Other
The waqf institutions weren't popular in all parts of the Muslim world. In West Africa, very few examples of the institution can be found, and were usually limited to the area around Timbuktu, Jenne and Masina. Instead, Islamic west African societies placed a much greater emphasis on non-permanent acts of charity. According to expert Illife, this can be explained by West Africa's tradition of "personal largesse." The imam would make himself the collection and distribution of charity, thus building his personal prestige.

Funding of schools and hospitals
After the Islamic waqf law and madrassah foundations were firmly established by the 10th century, the number of Bimaristan hospitals multiplied throughout throughout Islamic lands. In the 11th century, every Islamic city had at least several hospitals. The waqf trust institutions funded the hospitals for various expenses, including the wages of doctors, ophthalmologists, surgeons, chemists, pharmacists, domestics and all other staff, the purchase of foods and remedies; hospital equipment such as beds, mattresses, bowls and perfumes; and repairs to buildings. The waqf trusts also funded medical schools, and their revenues covered various expenses such as their maintenance and the payment of teachers and students.

Comparisons with trust law
The waqf in Islamic law, which developed in the medieval Islamic world from the 7th to 9th centuries, bears a notable resemblance to the English trust law. Every waqf was required to have a waqif (founder), mutawillis (trustee), qadi (judge) and beneficiaries. Under both a waqf and a trust, "property is reserved, and its usufruct appropriated, for the benefit of specific individuals, or for a general charitable purpose; the corpus becomes inalienable; estates for life in favor of successive beneficiaries can be created" and "without regard to the law of inheritance or the rights of the heirs; and continuity is secured by the successive appointment of trustees or mutawillis."

The only significant distinction between the Islamic waqf and English trust was "the express or implied reversion of the waqf to charitable purposes when its specific object has ceased to exist", though this difference only applied to the waqf ahli (Islamic family trust) rather than the waqf khairi (devoted to a charitable purpose from its inception). Another difference was the English vesting of "legal estate" over the trust property in the trustee, though the "trustee was still bound to administer that property for the benefit of the beneficiaries." In this sense, the "role of the English trustee therefore does not differ significantly from that of the mutawalli."

The trust law developed in England at the time of the Crusades, during the 12th and 13th centuries. The trust was introduced by Crusaders who may have been influenced by the waqf institutions they came across in the Middle East.