Forms of waqf

Perpetual cash waqf, charitable

Money dedicated in perpetuity, its capital preserved and its returns applied to a charitable purpose.

PermanentCharitableCashTakes effect at once

Nothing here is final yet

A waqf is settled only when a scholar independent of us has checked it and signed, and the paperwork proving ownership has been examined. Neither has happened for anything on this site. The rulings here were drafted by our internal scholars, and none is a fatwa addressed to you. See what they rest on.

The scholar’s ruling behind this

Decided by Waqf.Finance Demonstration Shariah Authority on 3 September 2026.

Permitted, conditional on preservation of the capital and on investment through compliant means only. The returns, and not the capital, are what reach the purpose.

Cash waqf was contested among the early jurists because money is consumed in use. The Hanafi position associated with Zufar permits it where the capital is preserved and put to work, and this was the basis of long Ottoman practice. Contemporary standard setters accept it on the same condition. The condition is therefore part of the ruling and not an administrative preference.

What we check

This condition is recorded, not enforced

The ruling sets a condition and the platform records it. It does not yet test whether a waqf made under this form meets it, so seeing the form on offer does not mean the condition has been met. Until that test exists the obligation sits with whoever administers the waqf, which is where the ruling puts it in any case.

Preservation of capital is stated in this ruling and is not enforced by the platform. No condition is bound to this adoption, so a Waqf declared under this form is not held to it. Do not read this adoption as a control on how the capital is used.

What this was based on

KindSourceChecked
Classical positionLater Hanafi and Maliki permissibility of waqf al-nuqudAffirmed
Academy resolutionOIC International Islamic Fiqh Academy, resolution on waqf of cashAffirmed
StandardAAOIFI Shariah Standard on WaqfAffirmed

A source counts as confirmed once a named scholar has opened the book or standard and put their name to it saying this. It is affirmed where there is no document to open and a named scholar attests on their own authority that the position is correctly stated. Until one of those happens it is a citation rather than a confirmation, and it is marked not yet confirmed.

The courtyard at ISTAC-IIUM with palm trees at dusk. Photograph: unsplash.com/@apyfz.

Draft a waqf in this form

The Draft a waqf page asks eleven questions and writes the answers into the Operator’s register as a draft. Nothing is signed or given there: the waqf takes effect when its deed says, and is funded when the property is handed over.

Draft a waqf in this form