Aazeen Kirmani | Clarion India
WAQF tends to get associated with Muslims. It is commonly believed that Waqf properties are by Muslims and for Muslims, even as the Waqf properties have immensely benefited Hindus, Christians, and others. This has been the case historically, and it continues to be the case today.
In Islam, a Waqf is a permanent endowment made for public benefit. Once a property has been declared Waqf, it can never be sold, inherited or privatised. The property can be used to build a hospital, a school, a marketplace, a mosque, a graveyard, or even something as simple as a well. While certain properties like the mosque or the graveyard are exclusively for Muslims, others like schools, universities, hospitals, and markets etc, are often for common use and benefit people without religious distinction.
Under the Muslim rule, Waqfs were established for sarais (travellers’ lodges), hospitals, schools and public infrastructure, which were utilised by all citizens irrespective of their religion.
In a nutshell, Waqf is the manifestation of the idea of service to humanity (khidmat-e-khalq) ingrained in the Islamic philosophy.
Here are a few examples of services hosted on Waqf lands or financed by Waqf income to people without religious discrimination.
• Prince Aly Khan Hospital, Mumbai: It was established under the Aga Khan Waqf. Of the thousands of patients treated at the hospital, the majority are non-Muslims.
• Aligarh Muslim University (AMU): It was established with the help of Muslim funds, including Waqf donations. The university imparts education to thousands of non-Muslim students.
• Waqf-managed Urdu-medium schools in Bihar and Bengal: Low fees and quality education draw in students from all religions to these schools.
• Waqf-funded organisations employ thousands of non-Muslims as employees (teachers, clerks, nurses, guards, and accountants, etc).
• Waqf-run hostels for underprivileged students (for example, in Kerala) are open for tribal and Dalit youth along with Muslims.
• During the Covid pandemic, several Waqf properties — mosques, dargahs, and madrasas — were converted into isolation wards and food distribution centres, serving without discrimination on grounds of religion.
The new Waqf law of 2025 has greatly undermined the Waqf as an institution by creating a path for:
• Increase in state control.
• Reduction in the powers of the Waqf Boards.
• Dismantling of ‘Waqf by User’.
• Potential conversion of Waqf properties into private or government properties.
Waqf is a permanent charity that has been benefiting people for centuries without discrimination based on religion, caste or race. It is a working model of the principle of welfare ingrained in the Directive Principles of State Policy of the Constitution of India.
A government that truly cared about the Directive Principles, as the current government claims to care about when it comes to implementation of the Uniform Civil Code, it would have taken steps to preserve the institution of Waqf rather than undermine it as brutally as it has done.
The onus of raising a voice for its preservation lies with each of us, irrespective of the religion one belongs to.
