نحو دور فاعل للأوقاف في حياة المجتمعات المسلمة المعاصرة

Abstract EN

This paper starts with the legitimacy of the waqf in Islam, based on The Holy Quran, Prophet’s Tradition and the Ijtihad of Prophet's companions and their followers until the third century of Hijra, when the famous scholar Al-Khassaf wrote his book "Ahkam Al-Waqf (Rules of Al-Waqf)”.

In this book are culminated the basic rules of the waqf, dominated for many centuries later, which are based in human Ijtihad as Mustafa Ahmed al-Zarqa states.

The trend of Ijtihad continued later with two important development.

The first one was in the sixth century of Hijra, called Irsad or the Sultans' waqf (i.e.

public Waqf or Waqf decreed by the ruler), which allowed the ruler to establish new endowments (awqaf) from Bayt al-Mal (the treasury).

The second development was the cash waqf in the eighth century of Hijra, which has been regarded as a "revolution in the Islamic jurisprudence relating to the Awaqaf".

This trend of Ijtihad was revitalized in the last century with the decision of International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA); an affiliate of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which allowed the private sector to invest in waqf properties through B.O.T.

system.

Based in this historical background, this paper explores the great role played by waqf in Muslim societies in all aspects of life, especially in the socio-economic and educational-cultural domains, up to the new developments and experiences in many cotemporary Muslim societies, focusing on some obstacles that may hinder the potentials of waqf in Muslim societies