JOBNAME: No Job Name PAGE: 1 SESS: 69 OUTPUT: Mon Feb 9 13:33:20 2015 //shlra/2014/Vol4/shlra2014_4_00012 [2014] 4 ShLR[2014] 4 ShLR LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGEMENT OF WAQF LAND IN MALAYSIA by SHARIFAH ZUBAIDAH SYED ABDUL KADER 1 and NOR ASIAH MOHAMED 2 PRIMER ONWAQF ADMINISTRATION IN MALAYSIA Malaysia is a Federation consisting of 13 states and three federal territories. In respect of the states, each State Islamic Religious Council (‘SIRC’) is declared by the law to be the ‘sole trustee’ of all waqf, whether general or specific waqf, in such state. Each SIRC has an administrative framework for waqf management consisting of their experts and officials to carry out the due administration of the waqf property for the benefit of the beneficiaries named in the waqf. If no beneficiaries are stated, this will be determined by the Islamic jurists based on the injunctions of the al-Quran and traditions of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH. 3 Waqf involving immoveable property 4 is for the settlement of the beneficiaries named by the donor in the waqf’s explicit terms, or the property may be rented out to the public, and the benefits accruing from the letting of the property could then be used to help and assist the beneficiaries towards the specified purpose. It is typical for the beneficiaries of waqf to be the underpriviliged, poor or orphans or even the general Muslim public, but sometimes they may involve special beneficiaries, who are the donor’s heirs and descendants. The common practice of the Muslim community on waqf in 1 Associate Professor and Assistant Director, International Centre for Waqf Research (ICWR) International Islamic University Malaysia. (sharifahz@iium.edu.my) 2 Associate Professor and Head of Civil Law Department, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws, International Islamic University Malaysia. (nasiahm@iium.edu.my) 3 Sharifah Zubaidah Syed Abdul Kader, Nuarual Hilal Md Dahlan, Current Legal Issues Concerning Awqaf in Malaysia, Chapter 4 in Prof Dr Syed Khalid Rashid, Prof Dr Arif Hassan, (eds) Waqf Laws and Management (With Special Reference to Malaysia), Institute of Objective Studies (New Delhi: 2013) pp 83–115. 4 ‘Immoveable property’ includes land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth, see s 66 of the Interpretations Act 1948 and 1967 (Act 388). [2014] 4 ShLR i Legal Framework for Management of Waqf Land in Malaysia A B C D E F G H I