The Governance Council
The body that governs the Operator, and through it every Waqf that Operator administers. It is one council per Operator, not one per Waqf: the board of an institution managing many Awqaf governs all of them and belongs to none.
How it takes the role
Seated by somebody with the power to seat members. The first member creates the council; every member after joins the same one. The seats are chair, member, independent member, secretary and observer, and an observer counts towards neither quorum nor votes.
Acts at stage 6, as set out in How it works.
What it can do
| What it lets you do | In use |
|---|---|
| Choose the governance class, or raise it. It can never be lowered.reserved to a person, never a systemalso held by operator | Yes |
| Invite somebody to the Operator’s Governance Council, in a named seat. They accept it themselves.reserved to a person, never a systemalso held by operator | Yes |
| Declare an interest in a matter, stepping back where it is material, and vote for, against or abstain.reserved to a person, never a system | Yes |
What it cannot do, and why
Seat a connected person as an independent member
Refused, for the same reason as the auditor: the seat claims independence, so a person with something to gain cannot fill it. The same person may sit as an ordinary member, which claims nothing.
Decide a reserved matter without an independent member voting for it
Fifteen of the sixteen require it. Where none is in office every reserved matter is blocked, not flagged, because a warning about a conflicted approval does not prevent it.
Vote while recused
A material conflict must be disclosed and cannot be voted through. Quorum is counted without the members who stepped back, so a council that loses quorum once they do has not reached one.
Lower the class of a Waqf it governs
The platform refuses it whichever way it is attempted, including by clearing the class altogether.
How to perform the role
- Invite the members from the Governance Council page, before the first waqf is drafted. Each is sent the invitation by email and accepts it on the site; an independent member declares their independence first. Trustees, including a founder, take ordinary seats. The minimum size is not enforced on each seat, because a council is assembled over days.
- Decide on the Governance Council page. The Operator raises a matter; each voting member declares any interest first, stepping back where it is material, such as being the waqif of the waqf concerned, and then votes. The decision records itself once every member still eligible has voted: approved where more vote for than against and, for a reserved decision that needs one, an independent member votes for it. If too few are left after members step back, the matter is blocked rather than carried.
- Approve, or refuse, handing the management of a Waqf to others. The Operator cannot appoint an investment manager until the council approves appointing that person, with an independent member voting for it, and cannot set the investment policy until the council approves the policy. Each approval is used once, so a new manager or a new version of the policy comes back to the council.
- Watch the shortfall line. It says which requirement of the governance class is unmet, for example that the class needs five voting members and only three are seated.
- Seat at least one independent member early. Reserved matters are blocked entirely until one is in office, and that is most of what a council is for.
- Raise the class as the number of Awqaf grows. You may raise it and never lower it, so raising early costs only the effort of meeting it.