As per Islam waqf property is available for religious purpose or for charitable purpose any other use or sale of property is prohibited . As per Sharia law of Islam once a property claimed by waqf is dedicated to Waqf, its remained as waqf property forever.
Waqf act means that the ownership of the property is now taken away from the person making Waqf and transferred and detained by Allah. As per Sharia, this property is now permanently dedicated to Allah, making Waqf irrevocable in nature
the history of waqf board in india
In India, the history of Waqf (a type of charitable donation) started during the early days of the Delhi Sultanate. Sultan Muizuddin Sam Ghaor gave two villages to the Jama Masjid of Multan and put Shaikhul Islam in charge of them. As the Delhi Sultanate and later Islamic dynasties grew in India, the number of Waqf properties also increased.
In the late 19th century, there was a push to get rid of Waqfs in India. This happened when a dispute over a Waqf property was taken to the Privy Council in London during the British rule. The four British judges who heard the case called the Waqf “a perpetuity of the worst and the most harmful kind” and declared it invalid.
However, the decision by the four judges was not accepted in India. In 1913, the Mussalman Waqf Validating Act was passed to protect Waqfs in India. Since then, no efforts have been made to limit Waqfs, and now the Waqf Board is the third-largest landowner in India, after the Armed Forces and Indian Railways.
Waqf board mainly strengthened after independence. The Waqf act 1954 passed by the Nehru Goverment which gave a pathway to centralisation of the Waqfs. Central Waqf council of India, a statuary body was established in 1964 by the Goverment of India under Waqf act of 1954.The Waqf Act was made even more favourable to Muslims in 1995 which as Advocate Dave pointed out, is an overriding law and there are no legislative powers over it.
the waqf act 1995
The Waqf act enacted and implemented on 22nd November 1995. This act provides for the power and functions of the Waqf Council, the State Waqf Boards, and the Chief Executive Officer, and also the duties of mutawalli. In short the waqf act 1995 provides more power to waqf board. Again the act amended in 2013 which provides unlimited power to waqf board to snatch anyone’s property which even could not be challenged in any court of law. In march 2014 just before the commencement of Lok Sabha election congress party gifted 123 prime properties in Delhi to Waqf board by using this law. Due to this black law thousand acres of Hindus land has been snatched away in the country.
Recently in Tamil Nadu Waqf board has decleared 6 villages of the state as the Waqf property includes a 1500 year old Hindu temple. So from these point you can easily judge how much this act is biased or not this act is totally in favoured of Muslims.
“Once a Waqf, always a Waqf”: How Waqf Boards have become 3rd biggest land owners in India and the properties now belong to Allah
Once the property is transferred to Waqf or to Allah through waqifs the the property can not be taken from the Allah or waqf.
There was a case in Eidgah ground in Bengaluru even though there was no transfer or proofs of transfer of property to any muslim organisation but Waqf’s claim that it was waqf property since 1850 means it will be forever Waqf’s property.
Recently, the Gujarat Waqf Board claimed that the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) building belongs to them because the ownership documents weren’t updated. They say that during the Mughal era, the building was a guesthouse used by people traveling for Hajj. Later, it became property of the British Empire. When India gained independence in 1947, the property transferred to the Indian government. However, because the documents weren’t updated, the SMC building is now considered Waqf property. The Waqf Board believes that once something is Waqf property, it always remains Waqf property.
Should there be Waqf Board in India or not?
The existence of Waqf’s act in secular country like India is questionable as it gives some special rights to a individual religious group . Many Muslim countries do not have equivalent Waqf’s board or Waqf’s acts.
Some argues that the Waqf’s acts in India should be repealed as it seems unconstitutional.
There is no formality requirement for creating a waqf (for ex creating document, registration etc). The dedication of given property as waqf does not need any proof or nit even need to express , it can simply be set up through user or reputation. Once it has been declared as waqf , it is vested with Allah forever. In India other communities do not have anything quite analogous to the waqf.
The constitutionality of waqf board has been challenged in the supreme court is the reason to think that should there be a waqf board in India or not and the another reason is from Tamil Nadu. Recently the news came out that waqf board has declared 6 Hindu majority village as waqf property which also include a 1500 year old Hindu temple in Tamil Nadu and the surprising thing is that no one knew that all the 6 villages are now waqf property so how can this type of thing can be happen so now before you will judge that this is a Hindutva conspiracy or you are trying to attack Muslims all these information is publicly available and i have attach official website links and the other articles from Hindustan times and times of India feel free to cross check the information.
Why the Waqf’s board is criticising let’s take an example so let’s say the church has a property dispute with a private citizen the dispute has to be argued before an ordinary civil court there is not any special court or organization of the community to deal with such matters but Muslims have seperate waqf board court where such dispute resolved. And if we see the same situation with Hindus atleast church can own the property but mandir in india are state control property and are not allowed to manage their property and all their property whether in cash or immovable property is effectively held by Indian government. So it’s obvious the people will criticise why there are different law’s are for different religions. if we are truly a secular state why is it that benifits that are given to one religious community are not extended to others.
Property of Waqf’s board
The Ministry of Minority Affairs runs a scheme called Qaumi Waqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme (QWBTS) through the Central Waqf Council (CWC), which is a government body under the Ministry. They’ve created an online portal named Waqf Assets Management System of India (WAMSI) to digitize records and map Waqf properties using GIS technology to prevent illegal occupation. Each State Waqf Board (SWB) has inputted details of 8,65,646 immovable Waqf properties and mapped 3,53,850 properties on the WAMSI portal up to December 2022.
Can a waqf be revoked?
Once it is created, the ‘Waqf’ cannot be revoked. As the property is deemed to vest in God.
Is the Waqf Board the largest land owner?
Waqf Board of India, the third largest land owner in India, owns equal to half of Punjab. The value of land is Rs 2 lakh crore. This is the gift of the Congress governments to Muslims.
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