Waqf

A waqf (Arabic: وَقْف‎; ), also known as hubous (حُبوس) or mortmain property, is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law, which typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets. The donated assets may be held by a charitable trust. The person making such dedication is known as waqif, a donor. In Ottoman Turkish law, and later under the British Mandate of Palestine, the waqf was defined as usufruct State land (or property) of which the State revenues are assured to pious foundations. Although based on several hadiths and presenting elements similar to practices from pre-Islamic cultures, it seems that the specific full-fledged Islamic legal form of endowment called waqf dates from the 9th century AD (see paragraph 'History and location'). In Sunni jurisprudence, waqf, also spelled wakf (Arabic: وَقْف‎; plural أَوْقاف, awqāf; Turkish: vakıf ) is synonymous with ḥabs (حَبْس, also called ḥubs حُبْس or ḥubus حُبْوس and commonly rendered habous in French). Habs and similar terms are used mainly by Maliki jurists. In Twelver Shiism, ḥabs is a particular type of waqf, in which the founder reserves the right to dispose of the waqf property. The person making the grant is called al-waqif (or al-muhabbis) while the endowed assets are called al-mawquf (or al-muhabbas). The term waqf literally means 'confinement and prohibition' or causing a thing to stop or stand still. The legal meaning of Waqf according to Imam Abu Hanifa, is the detention of a specific thing in the ownership of waqf and the devoting of its profit or products 'in charity of poors or other good objects'. Imam Abu Yusuf and Muhammad say: Waqf signifies the extinction of the waqif's ownership in the thing dedicated and detention of all the thing in the implied ownership of God, in such a manner that its profits may revert to or be applied 'for the benefit of Mankind'. Bahaeddin Yediyıldız defines the waqf as a system which comprises three elements: hayrat, akarat and waqf. Hayrat, the plural form ofhayr, means “goodnesses” and refers to the motivational factor behind vakıf organization;akarat refers to corpus and literally means ”real estates” implying revenue-generating sources, such as markets (bedestens, arastas, hans, etc.), land, baths; and waqf, in its narrow sense, is the institution(s) providing services as committed in the vakıf deed such as madrasas, public kitchens (imarets), karwansarays, mosques, libraries, etc. There is no direct injunction of the Qur'an regarding Waqf, which is derived from a number of hadiths (traditions of Muhammad). One says, 'Ibn Umar reported, Umar Ibn Al-Khattab got land in Khaybar, so he came to the prophet Muhammad and asked him to advise him about it. The Prophet said, 'If you like, make the property inalienable and give the profit from it to charity.'' It goes on to say that Umar gave it away as alms, that the land itself would not be sold, inherited or donated. He gave it away for the poor, the relatives, the slaves, the jihad, the travelers and the guests. And it will not be held against him who administers it if he consumes some of its yield in an appropriate manner or feeds a friend who does not enrich himself by means of it. In another hadith, Muhammad said, 'When a man dies, only three deeds will survive him: continuing alms, profitable knowledge and a child praying for him.' Islamic law puts several legal conditions on the process of establishing a waqf.