waqf
A waqf is property given away permanently so that only what it produces is used for charity. The property itself is locked: it cannot be sold, given away or inherited. A farm, a shop or a fund can all be held this way, and the benefit keeps going for years.
HAF's long-term projects are funded through its Sadaqah appeal.
What the Word Means
Waqf comes from a root meaning to stop or to hold still. The property is stopped. It no longer moves between owners.
Think of a fruit tree. You do not give away the tree. You give away the fruit, every year, forever, and you promise never to cut the tree down.
The plural is awqaf, which you will see in the names of government departments across the Muslim world. In North and West Africa the same thing is often called habs.
Where It Comes From
Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came into a piece of land at Khaybar. It was the best property he had ever owned, and he asked the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ what to do with it. He was told to hold on to the land itself and give away what it produced.
Umar did exactly that. He set the condition that the land could never be sold, never be given away, and never be inherited, and he named who should benefit from it: the poor, his relatives, those in bondage, travellers and guests. He also allowed whoever looked after it to eat from it in a reasonable way (Sahih al-Bukhari 2737; Sahih Muslim 1632).
Every rule of waqf grew out of that one arrangement.
Something similar happened with Abu Talha (may Allah be pleased with him). He owned a garden opposite the mosque in Madinah, the property he loved most. When the verse came saying that you will never reach true goodness until you give from what you love (Qur'an 3:92), he offered the garden away at once. The Prophet ﷺ praised him and advised him to give it to his close relatives (Sahih al-Bukhari 1461; Sahih Muslim 998).
Uthman ibn Affan (may Allah be pleased with him) bought a well in Madinah and opened it to everyone, at a time when people were paying for their water. That story is reported in the hadith collections and is one of the best-known early examples.
How a Waqf Works
Four parts make one up.
Someone gives. The person who sets it up must own the asset outright and give it willingly.
Something is held. Classically land, a building, a farm, a well or an orchard. Today it may also be shares or a sum of money.
Conditions are set. The founder says what the waqf is for and who benefits. Those conditions are taken seriously and are meant to be followed after the founder dies.
Someone looks after it. A person or committee, called the mutawalli, manages the asset, keeps it in working order and passes on the income. They may be paid a fair amount for the work.
What changes hands is the benefit, not the thing itself. If a waqf shop earns rent, the rent goes to the cause. The shop stays where it is.
Waqf in Britain Today
Two things surprise people here.
Money can be a waqf, not just land. This was argued over for centuries, because a coin is spent rather than held. The usual arrangement now is that the cash is invested, the capital is never touched, and only the returns are given away. Contemporary scholars have largely accepted this, and cash waqf funds are common across the Muslim world and increasingly in the UK.
English law has no such thing as a waqf. There is no box to tick. A waqf set up in Britain is normally built as a charitable trust, or as what charity law calls a permanent endowment, where the capital is held and only the income can be spent. The charity's own governing rules then do the job that the waqf conditions would have done. Anyone planning to set one up should take proper legal advice, because the rules on permanent endowment have changed in recent years and getting the paperwork right is what makes the promise hold.
Waqf, Sadaqah Jariyah and Zakat
Sadaqah Jariyah
is the wider idea: any charity that keeps helping people over time. A waqf is one way of achieving it, and the strictest one. Not every lasting gift is a waqf. Paying for a hand pump that a village then owns and maintains is
Sadaqah Jariyah, but it is not a waqf, because nothing has been locked away under permanent conditions.
Zakat
generally cannot be used to set up a waqf. Most scholars hold that Zakat must become the property of a person who qualifies to receive it, and a waqf by design belongs to nobody. Voluntary giving carries no such limit. There is more on this on the Zakat page.
An ordinary donation is spent and gone, which is often exactly right. A food parcel feeds a family this week. A waqf is for a different job: keeping something running long after you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Money is accepted by most contemporary scholars, and this is how nearly every modern waqf fund works. The cash is invested, the original amount is left untouched, and the returns are given to the cause. A handful of classical scholars only allowed land and buildings, so if you follow a particular view it is worth asking.
Yes, and many people do. Bear in mind that Islamic inheritance rules limit what may be left to people outside the fixed heirs to a third of the estate, and a waqf created at death usually falls under that limit. A waqf set up while you are alive is treated differently. Speak to someone who understands both Islamic inheritance and UK wills before deciding.
This is one of the oldest debates in the subject. A building that has fallen down, or land that no longer produces anything, raises the question. Hanafi scholars allow it to be exchanged for something of equal value under conditions, so the benefit continues elsewhere. Shafi'i scholars are far more reluctant. The founder's own conditions usually decide the matter first.
Yes. Umar named his relatives among those who should benefit from his, and the Prophet ﷺ advised Abu Talha to give his garden to his close family. A waqf that supports the founder's descendants is a recognised type. Most waqf funds you will come across in the UK are for the wider public rather than a family.
A donation towards a mosque building is spent on bricks and is finished. A waqf keeps producing. If someone gives a shop as waqf for that mosque, the rent pays for heating, teachers and repairs year after year, and the mosque never has to ask for that money again. One is a gift. The other is an income.
Waqf in Britain Today
Two things surprise people here.
Money can be a waqf, not just land. This was argued over for centuries, because a coin is spent rather than held. The usual arrangement now is that the cash is invested, the capital is never touched, and only the returns are given away. Contemporary scholars have largely accepted this, and cash waqf funds are common across the Muslim world and increasingly in the UK.
English law has no such thing as a waqf. There is no box to tick. A waqf set up in Britain is normally built as a charitable trust, or as what charity law calls a permanent endowment, where the capital is held and only the income can be spent. The charity's own governing rules then do the job that the waqf conditions would have done. Anyone planning to set one up should take proper legal advice, because the rules on permanent endowment have changed in recent years and getting the paperwork right is what makes the promise hold.
Sadaqah Jariyah is the wider idea: any charity that keeps helping people over time. A waqf is one way of achieving it, and the strictest one. Not every lasting gift is a waqf. Paying for a hand pump that a village then owns and maintains is Sadaqah Jariyah, but it is not a waqf, because nothing has been locked away under permanent conditions.
Zakat generally cannot be used to set up a waqf. Most scholars hold that Zakat must become the property of a person who qualifies to receive it, and a waqf by design belongs to nobody. Voluntary giving carries no such limit. There is more on this on the Zakat page.
An ordinary donation is spent and gone, which is often exactly right. A food parcel feeds a family this week. A waqf is for a different job: keeping something running long after you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Money is accepted by most contemporary scholars, and this is how nearly every modern waqf fund works. The cash is invested, the original amount is left untouched, and the returns are given to the cause. A handful of classical scholars only allowed land and buildings, so if you follow a particular view it is worth asking.
Yes, and many people do. Bear in mind that Islamic inheritance rules limit what may be left to people outside the fixed heirs to a third of the estate, and a waqf created at death usually falls under that limit. A waqf set up while you are alive is treated differently. Speak to someone who understands both Islamic inheritance and UK wills before deciding.
This is one of the oldest debates in the subject. A building that has fallen down, or land that no longer produces anything, raises the question. Hanafi scholars allow it to be exchanged for something of equal value under conditions, so the benefit continues elsewhere. Shafi'i scholars are far more reluctant. The founder's own conditions usually decide the matter first.
Yes. Umar named his relatives among those who should benefit from his, and the Prophet ﷺ advised Abu Talha to give his garden to his close family. A waqf that supports the founder's descendants is a recognised type. Most waqf funds you will come across in the UK are for the wider public rather than a family.
A donation towards a mosque building is spent on bricks and is finished. A waqf keeps producing. If someone gives a shop as waqf for that mosque, the rent pays for heating, teachers and repairs year after year, and the mosque never has to ask for that money again. One is a gift. The other is an income.