Abstract
The prolonged conflicts in the administration and management of waqf land have inhibited its development and expansion in Malaysia. This paper aims to identify the issues arising in the administration, management and development of the waqf land in Malaysia and offer several solutions to enhance waqf land development and ultimately strengthen the role of the SIRC (State Islamic Religious Council) as the sole trustee of waqf properties. The review of the past literature and in-depth interviews with three officers from Majlis Agama Islam Negeri (MAIN) or Sate Islamic Religious Council (SIRC) and the Department of Awqaf, Zakat and Hajj (JAWHAR) revealed several prominent issues in developing the waqf land which include ownership and registration of waqf land, financial problems, shortage of competent waqf managers and illegal occupation and encroachment of waqf land. This paper concludes that SIRCs in all states must be professionally restructured in order to improve the administration, management and development of waqf land in Malaysia. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n4s2p613
Highlights
According to JAWHAR (2013), there are over 8,861.15 hectares of waqf land in Malaysia
Three in-depth interview sessions with the officers of Majlis Agama Islam Negeri (MAIN) or Sate Islamic Religious Council (SIRC) and the Department of Awqaf, Zakat and Hajj (JAWHAR) were conducted to find out the real problems faced by SIRCs in administering and developing the waqf land in Malaysia
He has interestingly concluded that most of the State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) in all states have basically faced similar problem that is inefficient waqf administration which eventually leads to the failure for generating optimum income from the waqf land
Summary
According to JAWHAR (2013), there are over 8,861.15 hectares of waqf land in Malaysia. A total of 4,543.27 hectares of the land have been categorized as wakaf khusus or special waqf (any form of dedication or endowment precisely declared for specific purposes or special beneficiaries) while 4317.88 hectares have been categorized as wakaf am or general waqf (any form of charitable dedication or endowment made to support all public welfare purposes without stating any special beneficiaries; be it any individuals, organizations or institutions). If these pieces of land are efficiently managed and developed, they could yield billions of income to the Muslim communities.
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