Union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on August 8 proposed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, and the Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha, which sought to amend the existing working protocol of Waqf Boards. The Bill has sparked a controversy, with a section of community leaders, activists, opposition figures and legal experts criticizing it on the grounds that it may risk misuse and threaten minority rights. A joint parliamentary committee consisting of 31 lawmakers — 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members — has been set up to review the proposed changes in the Waqf Act, for which the committee has sought written suggestions from the general public, NGOs, experts, stakeholders and institutions.

Against this backdrop, the Press Information Bureau, the nodal agency of the Government of India, released an explainer regarding the Waqf Amendment Bill. The explainer has several sections such as — “What is the meaning of ‘Waqf’?”, “What is origin of the concept of ‘Waqf’?”, “What are the key legislative changes and developments in the administration of Waqf properties in India through Waqf Act?”, etc. Under the section titled, “Do all the Islamic Countries have Waqf Properties?“, the explainer stated that many Islamic countries did not have Waqf properties. It said: “No, not all the Islamic countries have Waqf properties. Islamic Countries such as Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, and Iraq do not have Waqfs. However, in India, not only are Waqf Boards the largest urban landowners, but they also have an Act protecting them legally.”

Several users on social media also shared the same claim. Below are a few instances.

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Fact Check

According to Britannica, ‘waqf’, in Islamic law, “is a charitable endowment held in trust.”

“In the formal process of establishing a waqf, the donor (waqīf) dedicates the assets (mawqūf) for a specific charitable purpose. Islamic jurists differ on the legal ownership of the assets once the endowment has been completed: many suggest that ownership is “returned” to God (whose providence had first bestowed it upon the donor), whereas others indicate that ownership remains with the donor. Regardless, the assets remain devoted in perpetuity for the specified purpose, the donor forfeits most of the rights associated with ownership, and the assets are managed by a custodian (mutawallī). However, the donor may designate herself or himself as custodian when completing the endowment.”

To verify the viral claim, we ran relevant keyword searches for each of the countries mentioned in the above-mentioned part of the PIB explainer. This is what we found:

Turkey

A simple keyword search led us to the website of the directorate general of foundations under the ministry of culture and tourism. In the ‘About Us‘ section, the website mentions the meaning and history of ‘Waqf’, which is referred to as ‘foundation’, and the goals associated with it. The page further goes on to mention that the legal status of these historical foundations is taken care of by the deneral directorate of foundations.

The website also has a dedicated section called ‘Foundations in Turkey‘ where details related to Waqf properties are mentioned thoroughly.

From the above findings, it is clear that Turkey has Waqfs which are handled by the country’s ministry of culture and tourism.

Libya

Upon searching with Arabic keywords, we came across the official X (formerly Twitter) page (@Awqafoflibya) of the “government institution responsible for matters concerning the Qur’an, endowments (waqf), mosques, and Islamic affairs.”

We found several tweets made by the page about announcements and updates from the ‘general authority of awqaf and Islamic affairs’. Below are a few instances. (Archive 1, 2)

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The X page also carried a link to the official website of the government body, however, the page said that the “site is under development”.

Egypt

On running a keyword search in Arabic, we came across a government body in Egypt called the ‘Egyptian endowments ministry general bureau’. This led us to the official government website of Egypt wherein the ‘ministry of endowments’ was listed. It should be noted that Waqf translates to endowments in English.

Therefore, it is clear that Egypt also has Waqf properties, contrary to what the PIB press release mentioned.

Sudan

We couldn’t find any website or social media page affiliated to the Sudanese government’s ministry of endowments affairs, however, we came across several news reports from Sudanese news outlets that covered news related to the ministry.

We found an interview of Dr Osama Hassan Al-Bathani with the Sudan News Agency who was named as the minister of religious affairs and endowments. In another instance, we found some news reports related to the ministry of endowments and religious affairs on Altaghyeer, a Sudanese newspaper.

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Syria

On running a keyword search in Arabic, we came across the official website of the ministry of endowments of Syria. Updates related to the ministry’s activities are posted on the website. Hence, Syria also has a government body handling the country’s waqf-related matters.

Jordan

Similarly, we also found the official website of the ministry of Awqaf and Islamic affairs and holy places for Jordan. Under a section of ‘about the ministry’, the page mentions, “As the Ministry’s work began to include many Islamic affairs in addition to Awqaf matters, Law No. (5) of 1969 was issued, which cancelled the phrase: (issued in accordance with Article (107) of the Constitution) from the text of the original law”. This makes it clear Jordan also has a Ministry dedicated to the handling of Waqf properties.

Lebanon

In the case of Lebanon, we found that the Dar Al-Fatwa, an Islamic religious authority, “oversees, directs and manages religious and endowment affairs in Lebanon, including matters of endowments, mosques, zakat, charitable and social work, religious education, fatwa and general guidance.”

In ‘God’s Property: Islam, Charity, and the Modern State’, Nada Moumtaz, an assistant professor in the department for the study of religion and the department of near & middle eastern civilizations at the University of Toronto, talks about the history of waqf since the Ottoman Empire and how it evolved in the 21st century in the city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon.

Further, we found that the waqf matters for the Shia community are handled separately by Shiite religious bodies. We came across a document that outlines the laws of the Shia waqf in Lebanon. We also found a Facebook page called ‘Endowments and shrines of the Shiite Islamic sect in Lebanon’. The bio of the page says: “This page deals with the community’s endowments and shrines, to introduce their reality and role, and to work collectively to revive them and activate their activities”.

Iraq

In Iraq, following the dissolution of the ministry of endowments and religious affairs (MERA) in 2003 — which used to oversee both Muslim and non-Muslim endowments — several religious offices were established, including the office of Sunni endowments (OSE) and the office of Shia endowments (OSHE), to promote religious autonomy.

The role of the Sunni endowment Diwan is to oversee mosques and other endowments associated with the Sunni community in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Shiite or Shia endowment office is responsible for promoting Shiite culture and managing the community’s heritage, including mosques, shrines, libraries, schools, and other real estate.

We found the official website of the Sunni endowment Diwan which had a page dedicated to ‘Endowment Rules‘. However, the page showed an error when we tried opening it. We also came across a Facebook page of the Iraqi Sunni Affairs wherein we came across several posts related to waqf. Below are a few instances.

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Similarly, we also found the official website of the religious body handling affairs related to the Shia Muslim community in Iraq. The site carried a booklet which included detailed information about the formation of the Shiite endowment office and its powers issued by a decision of the council of ministers.

Therefore, it is clear that waqf properties exist in Iraq and have been in vogue for many decades.

Tunisia

We found a website of the ministry of religious affairs of Tunisia, however, the website did not load when we tried to open it. Through our relevant keyword search, we came across a research paper titled: “Case Studies of Waqf Properties in Tunisia” from 2018 which explores the history of Awqaf in Tunisia. In the abstract of the paper, it is mentioned that the awqaf was cancelled by the former President Habib Bourguiba on May 31, 1956. It also talks about factors that need to be taken into consideration for the revival of the awqaf in the country.

Further, we came across a news report from Al Jazeera published in March 2016 which talks about the history of waqf in Tunisia and the talks of restoration of the same.

We could not find any recent developments regarding the revival of the waqf system in the country.

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