Talk:Waqf

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I think the addition of category Jerusalem's addition needs to be discussed. If anything Jerusalem is waqf (claimed as it at least) not waqf being Jerusalem which would severely limit the scope of waqf and be untrue. I put this up before reverting because I would like IZAK's comments. You may want to add something about claims of Jerusalem being waqf land, but the category should go. gren グレン 06:57, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Opening line needs to be clarified as words such as inalienable really dont provide much help or definition for the average reader. Alexantonios 17:57, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

I will be attempting a rewrite of this article here. All are welcome to cooperate and respond.Bless sins (talk) 03:37, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

For further reading we need books on waqf or that cover waqf substantially. Books on Islamic history at large are irrelevant.Bless sins (talk) 03:39, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Moved from article

I've moved the following unsourced content from the article, as it was unsourced.Bless sins (talk) 18:01, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Awqaf were among the most important owners of property (movable as well as immovable) in the Islamic world until recent times, and remain significant. Their incomes support the upkeep of many mosques; in past times, charitable services such as hospitals and orphanages were often maintained by awqaf.

The practice of declaring property as waqf gained considerable currency due to the practice in many Muslim states of expropriating the properties of important persons, especially officials, when they died or were disgraced. By declaring his estate as waqf and his descendants as trustees, a rich man could provide an income for his surviving family.

The Muslim administrative body responsible for the Haram al-Sharif in Jerusalem is often referred to as "the waqf".

Most waqfs are created with an endowment of real estate property. But endowments of cash, hence cash waqfs, have also been permitted. Such waqfs were popular particularly in the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman jurists were not in agreement about the legality of these cash waqfs. While the SeyhulIslam Ebussuud Efendi supported them and gave a fatwa to that effect, some others did not. The result was the cash waqf controversy. The main objection pertained to the way the waqf funds were invested. But cash waqfs were supported by the Ottoman sultans, who considered them essential for the Islamization of South Eastern Europe.

The waqf revenue was not taxed; large portions of land in Egypt and the Ottoman empire were devoted to waqf and thus lay outside of the state’s control. The Ulama were the waqf trustees and assigned waqf revenues to their designated purposes. The net result was to introduce the concept of private ownership of land and to concentrate enormous holdings into the hands of a few families.