THE PRESERVATION OF PROPERTY IN MAQASID AL-SYARIAH: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES OF WASI IN ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

Abstract

In estate administration, the appointment of wasi is seen as one of the significant instruments because it may expedite the process of distribution of a deceased’s estate. Hence, wasi plays a vital role as manager of the deceased’s estate as he is responsible for collecting, maintaining, and protecting the estate pending on the final distribution. On the other hand, the estate should be properly administered, or otherwise to a certain degree it will contribute harm to the well-being of the community. Morever, it should be comprehended that, in dealing with Muslims’ estate this also should be consistent with Maqasid Al-Syariah or the objectives of Islamic law. Thus, the paper attempts to examine the appointment and duties of wasi in the context of maqasid al-syariah and the concept of hifz al-mal particularly. This study is based on a qualitative study and its approach is a content analysis methodology. The study discovers that the appointment and duties of wasi is consistent with the concept of Hifz al-mal as wasi is a person who is responsible to protect the property of the deceased from any possible harm or damage (mafsadah). The findings of the study provide insights for the importance roles and functions of wasi in managing Muslims’ estate. The study concludes that the concept of preservation of property in Maqasid al-Syariah should be applied to the major players in estate administration such as personal representative, executor, administrator and trustee in order to protect the rights of beneficiaries and avoid hardship to the beneficiaries in wealth distribution.