How it works

A waqf is made by a person and kept by an institution, and the order in which that happens is most of what makes it sound. Waqf.Finance keeps the record at every stage: it holds no property, rules on nothing and makes no waqf.

ISTAC-IIUM, Kuala Lumpur

The six stages

1Dedication draftedWaqif
2Form ruled onScholar
3Title examinedOperator
4Waqif executesWaqif
5Property heldOperator
6Administered and accounted forOperator

The order is the substance. Everything before the signature is preparation, however carefully recorded. The waqf takes effect when its deed says: on signing, or on delivery or registration.

1 The dedication is drafted

Who acts: the waqif

What is being given, what it is for, who benefits, and for how long. A waqf that says only “for good causes” leaves the people running it in fifty years guessing what was meant. Draft a waqf to see what is asked: it needs an account, because it writes a record with an author, and it signs nothing.

2 A scholar rules on the form it takes

Who acts: the Shariah Auditor

Perpetual or for a term, family or charitable, the thing itself or the use of it. Each is a recognised form with a ruling behind it, and a waqif is told before choosing where a ruling rests on a minority position. See the forms of waqf.

3 Ownership and authority are examined

Who acts: the Operator

That the waqif owns what they are giving and may give it, that nothing else is charged against it, and whatever the law of the place requires. A defect here can usually be cured; a defect at stage two cannot, because an arrangement unsound in Shariah does not stand at all.

4 The waqif executes

Who acts: the waqif

A signature, and in some places a registration; everything before it is preparation. The waqf takes effect when its deed says, on signing or on delivery or registration, and from then the property belongs neither to the waqif nor to their estate.

5 The property is delivered and held

Who acts: the Operator and the Custodian

Somebody takes custody and confirms they hold it. Until that confirmation exists the waqf is declared but not funded, and the platform shows the difference rather than treating an intention as an asset.

6 It is administered, and accounted for

Who acts: the Operator, the Shariah Auditor, the Investment Manager, the Accountant and the Governance Council

The corpus is preserved, the income is applied to the purpose, and both are recorded so that another generation can see what was done and why. This is the long part, and the part the record exists for.

When a waqf takes effect

A waqf takes effect when its deed says: on signing, or on delivery or registration.

Deed executedSignature recorded

What is the trigger?Decided by the deed, not by us

The declaration itself

ConstitutedAt once

Delivery or registration

Declared, pending triggerWaits here, however long it takes

Constituted when evidenced

Executing does not always constitute. Where the deed makes delivery or registration the trigger, the waqf is declared and waits, and the platform shows the difference rather than treating an intention as an endowment.

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

What the record ends up saying

All of this produces a passport: not a certificate or a score, but seven separate readings, each given by a different person and each able to lapse on its own. See the published passports.

What somebody doesWhat the passport reports

The deed is executed, its trigger metWaqif

Constitution verifiedcurrent when no gap left outstanding

The corpus accedes to the waqfOperator

Property confirmedcurrent when given, not merely promised

The holder confirms they hold itCustodian

Custody currentcurrent when confirmed, and not yet expired

A scholar concludes on itShariah scholar

Shariah assurancecurrent when given where its level requires, in date

How it is run is reviewedGovernance reviewer

Governance assurancecurrent when given where its level requires, in date

The accounts are assuredAccountant

Financial assurancecurrent when given where its level requires, in date

What the benefit achieved is measuredImpact assessor

Impact assurancecurrent when given where its level requires, in date

Seven readings, each given by a different person and each able to lapse on its own. A waqf can be soundly constituted and have no current financial assurance, and the passport says exactly that rather than averaging it away.

What any of this takes in practice is answered in the FAQ.