WAQF IN ISLAMIC LAW AS A CONTEMPORARY BUSINESS VEHICLE

Abstract

Abstract. The purpose of this research is to analyse the concept of waqfs, special religious endowments, under Islamic law through a comparison with traditional English common law trusts. We would explore the doctrinal peculiarities of both instruments, such as the purpose of endowment, the status of trustees and mutawallis, inalienability of property and the perpetuity rule. In particular, this research focuses on the role the waqfs can play as investment vehicles, and the structural and doctrinal challenges they face. This paper posits that a cash waqf can be organized in a way similar to private equity funds and play essentially the same role while being compliant with the letter of Islamic law. In the age of periodic economic crises, waqfs, at least conceptually, can be a very powerful instrument of social justice and an ethically compliant way of investing and doing business.