wakf-alal-aulad
In Abul Fata Mahomed Ishak v. Russomoy Dhur Chowdhry (1894) the Privy Council held that a wakf whose real object was to benefit the family, with the gift to charity postponed until the line of descendants failed, was invalid because the charitable purpose was illusory. Muslim opinion objected, and the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913 reversed this: a Muslim may create a wakf for the maintenance and support of his family, children or descendants, and even himself (for Hanafis), provided the ultimate benefit is reserved for the poor or another permanent religious or charitable purpose.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 adds that a wakf-alal-aulad must not deny inheritance rights to the founder's heirs, including women heirs. The essential test remains that the ultimate beneficiary must be a permanent charitable object.
Example
The deed gave the income to the founder's sons and their descendants and, on their extinction, to the poor of the town, which is a valid wakf-alal-aulad under the 1913 Act.
In Indian law
- Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913
- Abul Fata Mahomed Ishak v. Russomoy Dhur Chowdhry (Privy Council, 1894)
- Waqf Act, 1995 (as amended in 2025)
See also
wakf · mutawalli · residuaries
Read more in the study notes
- Wakf and the mutawalli (Family Law II - Mohammedan Law)