IT’S TIME TO ESTABLISH YOUR OWN WAQF

Find out how you can set up ‘The [INSERT YOUR NAME HERE] Waqf Fund’ and begin reaping the benefits

Watch Video - How to Establish a Waqf?
how to establish your own Waqf
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Waqf Governing Document

If your Waqf is to stand the test of time, it needs a proper written governing document from the outset. We guide you through this process so you fully understand the Dos and Don’ts, in order to ensure your Waqf can still be around in a hundred years or more. Learn more.
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Adding Assets

The next stage is to add assets to your Waqf. This will usually be done at the beginning, but more assets can always be added later. Different assets have different rules and regulations when it comes to Waqf so understanding this clearly is key. Learn more.
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Combining with an Islamic Will

Once your Waqf is established, it needs a mechanism to continue after your death. We work with the UK’s leading Islamic Will providers I Will Solicitors to ensure this is arranged. Learn more.
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Waqf Register

We have established a public register for all our Waqf Funds with the aim of bringing transparency, ensuring compliance, and instituting professionalism in the administration of Waqf. Learn more.
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Charitable Waqf

Our growing partnerships with Waqf charities enables for the long-term maintenance of personal Waqf funds, ensuring that this most beneficial form of Sadaqah Jaariyah can grow for generations to come. Learn more.
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FAQs

For those who need some key information on what establishing your own Waqf fund involves and how this would impact you, our FAQs are a great place to start. Learn more.

Every Waqf needs a Founding Document

Our comprehensive approach to Waqf, means that we gather all the key information from you and ensure you fully understand the implications of Waqf, before preparing your Waqf governing document. After all it is this document that will act as your voice into the future – so it needs to be comprehensive and well thought out.

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What is the name of the Waqf Fund?

Who will be the Trustees?

Who would you like to benefit?

What powers will the Trustees have?

What conditions would you like to set?

How and when will charity benefit?

Adding Assets

Your Waqf Fund is setup with a governing document, but what assets  can and should you add to it? Waqf is a permanent Islamic endowment which means that for Shariah purposes any assets you add should not be inherited, gifted or spent. Yet you can still use and benefit from the asset and receive and spend any income generated, and so can your family.

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Property

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Cash

A common form of Waqf relates to the family home and/or investment properties. When placed in Waqf the property should not then be sold unless it is in the best interests of the Waqf to do so and the property sale proceeds are used to purchase another property. You and your family can continue to use and benefit from the home for as long as your choose. You may decide that at some point in future the rental proceeds are given to charity.

A cash Waqf can be created and the cash can be used to purchase any investments that are deemed appropriate. You and your family can benefit from any income generated as a result. You will no longer have to pay Zakat on the cash paid into the Waqf or any of the investments which the cash is used to purchase.

icons8-house-100

Property

A common form of Waqf relates to the family home and/or investment properties. When placed in Waqf the property should not then be sold unless it is in the best interests of the Waqf to do so and the property sale proceeds are used to purchase another property. You and your family can continue to use and benefit from the home for as long as your choose. You may decide that at some point in future the rental proceeds are given to charity.

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Cash

A cash Waqf can be created and the cash can be used to purchase any investments that are deemed appropriate. You and your family can benefit from any income generated as a result. You will no longer have to pay Zakat on the cash paid into the Waqf or any of the investments which the cash is used to purchase.

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One Register to Record them All

Registers have been a feature of Islamic governance from the outset. During the period of the Ottoman Empire, the Diwan was the central record which recorded transactions, court judgements and all Waqf instituted within the empire (amongst other things). We have set about to record Waqf once again on a public register.

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I Will Solicitors Homepage

Islamic Waqf & Islamic Wills - A Marriage Made to Last

By utilising Islamic Wills which incorporate Will Trusts, our partners at I Will Solicitors can ensure that your Waqf is separated from your other assets which are to be inherited and distributed amongst your beneficiaries. The Will Trust can then be run indefinitely and adhere to the provisions of your Waqf Governing Document, ensuring your Waqf is still around far into the future.

Visit I Will Solicitors Website
Visit I Will Solicitors Website

FAQs

Have a question about how to establish your Waqf? Need to understand what having your own Waqf entails? You’re in the right place.

We work with you to prepare a Waqf Governing Document and a Letter of Instructions which carefully record your wishes and ensure that the Waqf is flexible enough to accommodate them and advise you wherever this is not the case. We will also agree which assets you would like gift into the Waqf and arrange for these to be transferred for Shariah purposes to the Waqf.

Yes. In most cases this will be the situation and you would appoint other trustees either alongside you or to take over if you unable to manage things or pass away.

Yes, however to ensure the Waqf is not abused we would generally recommend appointing an additional trustee or trustees alongside yourself.  

This depends on the Waqf Governing Document and this should be discussed and agreed, but generally speaking, it would be the existing trustees who could appoint additional trustees alongside them.

None. We set-up the Waqf for Shariah purposes only. This means it will not affect the legal or tax position of the ownership of the Waqf assets in anyway. This makes it far easier to set-up and in effect is similar to an Islamic nikah ceremony conducted in the UK which is left unregistered.

Far from it. Waqf is and always has been an integral part of Islamic law. By allowing Waqf to be created, the Shariah has given a method of retaining assets intact for long-term growth and prosperity. It can however be abused as with any law, rule or regulation. Ultimately, all deeds are by intentions and if individuals seek to avoid inheritance by creating a Waqf fund then they will be accountable accordingly. This however, has always been a risk and is nothing new.

No Zakat is payable on anything gifted to the Waqf as it is no longer a part of the estate and is owned, for Islamic purposes, by the Waqf.

To ensure your Waqf can be properly managed after your death you need a trust-based Islamic Will in place. This allows the trustees of your Islamic Will to partition assets within your estate between those that will be inherited in the normal way and those that were added to you Waqf fund and so should not be inherited. Our partners at I Will Solicitors  can advise fully on these points (visit www.iwillsolicitors.com for more information).  

Our Waqf funds are only certified by qualified scholars able to fully understand the Shariah requirements of Waqf and ensure each Waqf accords to these requirements. Currently, our Shariah Consultant Mufti Faraz Adam checks each Waqf Fund individually and provides the certificate certifying the same as Shariah compliant and this is provided to each person.

Our Waqf Funds cost between £950-1950 to setup, depending on the complexity of your circumstances and wishes, the number of assets you are adding and other related factors. To receive an accurate quote, please get in touch with us via the 'Establish my own Waqf' form on the Contact page of our website.

Our Waqf Funds are entirely bespoke and we take a great deal of care to ensure you fully understand the Waqf and the implications of setting it up and that it is tailored to your needs. This in turn takes time and expertise to do correctly and hence the associated cost. 

It depends on whether your Waqf is permanent or temporary. If your Waqf is permanent then it should be maintained indefinitely. If the Waqf is temporary then the ownership of the assets returns to you on the expiry of the limit which you initially set. You should therefore consider carefully whether you want to have a Waqf as for Shariah purposes it is binding on you once established.

You can add assets to your Waqf fund in the form of both Waqf assets and non-Waqf assets. Waqf assets must be maintained within the Waqf fund, however, non-Waqf assets can be used for any purpose the Trustees decide including distributions to beneficiaries, but this decision should not be taken lightly as it will lead to the depletion in the value of the Waqf. Any decision of this nature should only be taken if there are at least two trustees. This adds flexibility to the Waqf, you should however be hesitant in adding all or the majority of assets as non-Waqf, as it may mean that the Waqf is not setup to last a long-time.

If you add a property to the Waqf fund and then believe you need to sell it, you are able to, as long as it is in the best interests of the Waqf to do so. This will vary from case to case and generally speaking selling assets should be the last thing considered if there are no other means to ensure the safeguarding and growth of the assets. (It will also vary from asset type to asset type, so for things like shares you may need to sell regularly to ensure the value of the Waqf fund is maintained, but for property this is generally less necessary.) The proceeds of the sale should then be used to purchase alternative assets.

As with any asset, the value of investments can rise and fall. It is the job of trustees to properly manage the Waqf fund and ensure that the asset value is maintained as far as possible. As with any management of assets they will need to take steps to maintain and grow the value at the appropriate time.

Depending on the terms of your Waqf you may be able to veto the decision of the Trustees, however, generally speaking the decision of the Trustees would stand and you would be bound to follow the same for Islamic purposes.

Our Waqf funds give the trustees wide powers of investment and so essentially, any investment, which is Shariah compliant, and you could make yourself, can be made on behalf of the Waqf fund.

The idea of the Waqf Register is to begin to make Waqf visible again. At the height of Waqf throughout Muslim lands, it was a key part of how the entire society functioned and as a result there was almost universal understanding and appreciation of its benefits. With the decline in Waqf, this was largely lost. By creating a Waqf Register we want to start to demonstrate the power of Waqf and begin to connect the existing Waqf to the most appropriate causes.

No. The publicly available Waqf Register will only include entirely anonymised information which cannot be tracked to individuals.

Complete our form on the Contact page – ‘Set up my Waqf’. We will then arrange an initial no-obligation consultation with you to discuss matters further.

Great, come on board with iWaqf and support us in our campaign to re-establish Waqf as a normal part and parcel way of life for Muslims everywhere. You can do this by going on the Contact page and completing the ‘Join the iWaqf Movement’ form. Alternatively, you may want to volunteer your skills to help push the message of Waqf forward in which case there is a form for that too.

Leading Charities – Partners in Waqf

To this day, Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) continues to receive ever increasing benefit as a result of his Waqf. In the long-term most people will want their Waqf to similarly fund charitable projects. We know this, and that is why we have partnered with leading Waqf specialist charities so that you have an increasingly wide choice of potential partners in this field.

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Islamic Relief

Islamic Relief

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Read Foundation

Read Foundation

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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Saba Relief

Saba Relief

Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
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