The word · Law & life
وَقْف
Waqf (endowment)
A permanent charitable endowment: property held forever so that its income keeps serving a purpose.
Also written · Waqf · Awqaf · Wakf · Vakif · Vakf · Waqaf · Wagf · Habs · Hubus · endowment · Islamic endowment · charitable trust · waqf property · foundation
The meaning
What Waqf (endowment) means in Islam
'Umar asked the Prophet about land he had acquired at Khaybar and was told to hold the property itself and give away its produce, which became the model. Once made, a waqf cannot be sold, given away or inherited, and it is administered for its stated beneficiaries, whether a mosque, a school, a well or a family. Historically waqf funded most of the Muslim world's hospitals, libraries and colleges, and it remains the fullest form of ongoing charity.
Evidence · Sunnah · Established in the authentic Sunnah
Read beside it
Words that sit beside it
- Sadaqah JariyahA charity that keeps benefiting people, so its reward continues after the giver dies.صَدَقَة جارِيَة
- WasiyyahA bequest: instructions for up to a third of your estate, taking effect after death.وَصِيَّة
- AmanahA trust: anything placed in your care that you must return, or use exactly as agreed.أَمانة
- MirathIslamic inheritance: fixed shares of an estate distributed among relatives named in the Qur'an.الميراث
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