Description
The early Muslims knew of their religious duties to ALLAH and to their brother in humanity. They worshipped Almighty ALLAH by observing prayers and by kneeling and prosptrating in obedience to Him. They also did good deeds, which they considered to consist of giving charity to the weak and the aged and relieving the pain and suffering of the destitute and the forsaken. This practice later gave rise to a social institution known as the waqf (religious and charitable trusts endowments) which fulfilled a service analogous to that known in modern times and civilised contries as "social security". This phrase is understood to mean that those who are unable to earn their livelihood by reason of old age, sickness or infirmity, are given an allowance to maintain their subsistence at a moderate level until such time as they are able to support themselves by their earnings.
They understood fully the purport of the Quran and the principles which it advocated, when they read the verse "O, ye who believe! Bow down and prostrate yourselves, and worship your Lord, and do good, that haply ye may prosper," they sought to do good deeds and also to make provisions in their lifetime for the continuation of such a practice in the future. Thus they strove to do good deeds and to ensure that such good deeds continue to operate for a long time in the future. They set aside special estates, farms and industries yielding substantial incomes so that they could be applied to humanitarian projects designed to relieving the suffering of the unfortunate members of society. They called such estates "awqaf". The Arabic word "waqf" implies that these estates are subject to a perpetual trust and they cannot be sold, exchanged or dealth with in any manner that conflicts with the purpose to which they were originally devoted. This provision guards against the possibility of unscrupulous or wrongful use of exploitation of such property for personal ends. In Islamic jurisprudence careful and meticulous rules devised to ensure that persons who were concerned with the administration of such charitable trusts possessed a high measure of faith, piety, fear of ALLAH, honesty, ty, sincerity and devotion to the welfare of their fellows in the community. Such high stipulations ensure that the institution of waqf operates smoothly and efficiently and fullfils and purpose for which it was dedicated. In this way the institution of waqf was destined to do good in perpetuity and that lasting good should flow from it.
However, the law and administration of waqf do not merely regulate and deal with a fund of money, an income or an item of property. It is with the beneficiaries and their problems that the law and administration of waqf should be primarily concerned. The basic study of waqfs therefore, should be a study of the needs of those who should benefit by waqf and to ascertain how far the law, the administration, the administrators and the donors of waqf were able to meet those needs. It is upon this approach that this work has been founded.
ISBN:ISLAMICLAWWIT
