wakf

On the creation of a wakf, ownership passes from the founder (wakif) to God, and the usufruct is applied for the beneficiaries. A wakf must be permanent, irrevocable and unconditional, and its income must ultimately go to a religious or charitable object. The property is managed by a mutawalli, who is a manager and not an owner or trustee in the English sense. It may be created by declaration, by long use (wakf by user), or during the last illness within the one-third limit.

Wakfs are governed by the Waqf Act, 1995, renamed and heavily amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which, among other things, requires a founder to have practised Islam for at least five years and ends wakf by user for the future. Several of these changes are under challenge in the Supreme Court, which has stayed some provisions on an interim basis. A wakf differs from a Hindu religious endowment and from an English trust.

Example

Since the founder dedicated the land permanently for a mosque and a school, a valid wakf was created and the property vested in God.

In Indian law

• Waqf Act, 1995 (as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025)
• Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913

See also

mutawalli · wakf-alal-aulad · trust · marz-ul-maut

Read more in the study notes

• Wakf and the mutawalli (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Interim orders: commissions, arrest and attachment before judgment, temporary injunctions and receivers (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Prescription, adverse possession and extinguishment of title (sections 25 to 27) (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
• Sources of Muslim law (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Maintenance of Muslim women: personal law, the 1986 Act and section 144 BNSS (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)
• Pre-emption (shufa) (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)