(i) inalienable lands belonging
to the Government which are charitable.
(ii) Pious endowments with reference
to the subject matter of trusts the second meaning is relevant.
Wakf has to be a permanent endowment in perpetuity.
It cannot be either contingent or revocable.
No
instrument in writing is required to create a wakf. An oral dedication can as
well create a wakf.
Neither delivery of possession nor appointment
of mutawallis is required. But the subject of wakf must be clearly defined.
A
wakf can also be made by a will or by long user.
Any muslim who
has attend majority and is of sound mind can make a wakf .A minor or his guardian
as on behalf of the minor cannot make a wakf. Again,a wakf cannot be made for
an illegal object.
A wakf nama by which immovable property of
value of Rs.100 as more isdedicated by way of wakf requires registration.
The
property which is either capable of being used without being consumedor which
is though consumable in itself but is capable of being convertedinto property
of a permanent nature can form the subject matter of a wakf.
A
wakf can be created for any purpose which is considered religious,pious, or charitable
by the Mohammadan law.
Any wakf created with the object of obtaining
the approval of the almighty or a reward in the next world is pious as per Mohammadan
law.
Few instances of a pious or a religious purpose may be mosques,
provisions for imams, colleges, bridges, assistance to poor people to perform
pilgrimage to Mecca, and distribution of alms to the poor.
Wakf
may be made for the rich as well poor people alike or for the affluentand thereafter
for the poor or for the poor people alone. All personsregardless of their financial
status can be made beneficiaries of a wakf.
Even family members
and descendents of the wakif, that is the personcreating the wakf, can be made
beneficiaries. Under Hanafi law, the wakifhimself can also be a beneficiary.
Under
Muslim law, the administration of a wakf is vested in the Mutawallibut since 1923
a number of Central and State Acts, have restricted andregulated the administration
powers of a mutawalli so as to ensuretransparency and proper execution of a wakf.
For instance the Wakf Act1954 makes registration of a wakf, whether created before
or after thecommencement of the Act, at the office of a wakf commissioner mandatory.
Thereafter, the Mutawalli's of these registered wakfs are required
toprepare budget and accounts of the wakf for the appraisal of the wakfcommissioner
and the wakf board.
In certain cases, the wakf board can assume
direct Management of the wakf.
