Complexities of Waqf Development in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is coping with the problem of poverty since its independence. Recent success stories of the country in alleviating poverty have been the outcome of the efforts of several public and private initiatives. As a Muslimmajority country, Bangladesh is yet to incorporate Islamic vehicles of poverty reduction in the national development strategies. Waqf has been sidelined as a mere charity even though it has historical success in producing continuous income and thus reducing poverty levels in the Muslim countries. This paper is divided into three sections. In the first part, it provides a historical overview of Waqf in Bangladesh followed by a brief description of Waqf institutions that are responsible for managing Waqf in Bangladesh. The final section discusses contemporary issues that are affecting the efficient management of Waqf funds towards making its mark in alleviating poverty from Bangladesh. In describing various problems, issues concerning governance and information disclosure were addressed that provide significant insight for different stakeholders. Information gathered through systematic literature review process indicated that Waqf institutions in Bangladesh are lacking appropriate governance mechanisms that are resulting in information asymmetry. Future research on the governance mechanisms applied by Waqf institutions and their impact on the extent and quality of information disclosure will provide further insight for the need of reform in this voluntary sector to ensure their sustainable future and contribution towards economic development in Bangladesh.

A systematic literature review on the socio-economic roles of waqf: evidence from organization of the Islamic cooperation (OIC) countries

“…The themes discussed regarding entrepreneurship consist of the distribution of cash waqf for capital and business infrastructure (Arshad and Haneef, 2016;Bustami and Hakim, 2020;Hassana et al, 2020;Iman and Mohammad, 2017;Musari, 2016;Osman et al, 2015;Sulistyowati and Anshori, 2019), the corporate waqf model (Ibrahim et al, 2020(Ibrahim et al, , 2016 and the provision of equipment for farmers (Olaniyi et al, 2015). In the field of education, the benefits of waqf are directed at providing learning infrastructure (Abdullah and Saiti, 2016;Alhifni et al, 2017;Bahroni, 2016;Hasan et al, 2019b;Hasan and Siraj, 2016;Mahamood and Rahman, 2016), scholarships and higher education funds (Ali et al, 2019;Amuda et al, 2016;Harun et al, 2016;Mustofa et al, 2020;Razak et al, 2016;Shaifull Anuar et al, 2019;Usman and Rahman, 2020) and learning centers (Mustofa et al, 2020).…”

“…Despite the success of OIC countries in increasing the socio-economic developmental role of waqf, several obstacles still remain to the management of this Islamic endowment. Among these are the centralization of its administration (Hasan and Siraj, 2016), unprofessional resources for its management (Ali et al, 2018), the poor competence of its institutions (Al Hasan, 2017), a lack of supporting regulations in its management and development (Haneef et al, 2015), a lack of social awareness (Almanaseer and Bashar, 2014), financial resource constraints (Nasution and Medias, 2020) and poor integration with other financial sources (Zauro et al, 2020). Amuda and Embi (2013) stated that these challenges significantly reduce the level of trust among waqif (donors), discouraging them from making waqf endowments (Amuda and Embi, 2013).…”

FINANCING HEIs THROUGH WAQF FUND IN BANGLADESH: ISSUES AND POSSIBILITIES

“…Based on the review, the study, in the beginning, had a look at the legislative ground of Waqf in Bangladesh. As an ex-colony of British, till 1947, Waqf's first legislation was implemented by the colonial administrator in 1894 with the Privy Council statement invalidating the Waqf in the family domain and then abolished and substituted by the "Mussalman Waqf Validating Act" in 1913 (Hasan & Siraj, 2016). As seen, "the Bengal Waqf Act of 1934" introduced and implemented by the British which was adopted in East Pakistan under an ordinance of 1962 (the name of Bangladesh, 1947Bangladesh, -1971 with minor amendments (Azhari, A. S. (2016)).…”

“…Some of the studies noticed by The World Economic Forum and United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance (UNPAN) confirms that decreasing trust in general sector organisations in apparent in several places of the world. Such studies have noted that there exists a constant decrease of trust within a range of general foundations, in both upgrade and upgrading countries (Hasan & Siraj, 2016).…”

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“…This progressive scenario of the country is a combined effort of public-private initiatives and performances. However, in bringing a firm stability of a Muslim majority society like Bangladesh it is inevitable to incorporate Islamic Shariah instruments in the national development strategies for accelerating social services to the door of the mass people (Hasan & Siraj, 2016) [12] . In this regard, effective administration of Awqaf, especially, cash Waqf can be the best strategy for building sustainable Bangladesh which is now practicing by the few private Islamic banks and financial institution without adequate legal protection.…”