The Significance of WAQF for Economic Development

Abstract

There is an opinion among Western scholars that the institution of waqf could not any longer perform its economic role in the present times. Instead of being a vital institution as it truly played at the pre-modern era, waqf nowadays seems to be an impediment to the development in Muslim countries. This paper therefore is meant to refute such an opinion and attempts to point out the economic impacts of waqf for Muslim society in the context of the present economy. In the last part, the paper also brings about several necessary prerequisites for the revitalization of waqf in the current days.

Keywords: waqf, economic development, income distribution, poverty, deficit financing