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The Waqf in India are properties endowed by murideen (followers) of saints (embodiment of Hindu-Muslim unity) for the upkeep of shrines, madrasas, khanqahs (hospices) and masjids (places of worship) and for the welfare of the succeeding generation.
The person who so dedicates his or her property is known as waqif and the person nominated is known as mutawalli. It is pertinent to note that the types of properties enumerated by the Justice Sachar report are the hallmarks of Sunni Sufi culture.
According to the report, “There are more than 4.9 lakh registered wakfs across India. Large concentration of the properties is in West Bengal (148,200) followed by Uttar Pradesh (122,839). Other states with a sizable number of wakfs are Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The total area under Waqf properties all over India is estimated at about six lakh acres and the book value is nearly Rs6,000 crore. However, the market value of these properties will be much higher; the report estimates it at Rs 1.2 lakh crore. A recent estimate of the current value of Waqf properties in Delhi alone is in excess of Rs 6,000 crores. A good number of these properties in urban areas are in city centres where the current value is many times more than the book value. However, the current annual income from these properties is only about Rs 163 crore, which amounts to a meagre rate of return of 2.7%. Of this amount, the Waqf Boards are entitled to receive a 7% share, which is used for the working expenses of the boards. The remaining is expected to be spent on the stated objectives of the respective waqfs.
It is unfortunate that after Independence these wakfs were handed over on a platter to the wahabis and deobandis. The blame is on the Waqf Act 1954, which stipulated in section 11 that board members shall be appointed by the state governments from persons having knowledge of Muslim law and representing associations such as State Jamiat-ulUlama-i-Hind and Ahle hadees. The deobandis and ahle hadis, for whom the very purpose of auqaf (plural of waqf) was shirk (unIslamic), diluted them by encroachment, destruction of shrines and taking over of managing committees, thereby pushing the Sunnis over the precipice of poverty.
The then Pakistani establishment of General Ayub Khan took cue from our law and passed the West Pakistan Waqf Property Ordinance (1961) nationalising the Waqf properties. The inspiration was from the wahabi ideals enunciated by Javed Iqbal, the son of the poet Muhammad Iqbal, who published a book ‘Ideology of Pakistan’, demanding the abolition of shrines and the curbing of the influence of the Sunni Sufi pirs.
This pro deobandi wahabi bias in the Indian Waqf Act 1955 was legally undone by the Waqf Act 1995, which removed the earlier qualification but it was too late as the wahabis and deobandis had already entrenched themselves in state and central Waqf Boards. Even after the new Waqf Act 1995, many Sunni mosques had been converted to wahabhi-deobandism due to the wahabised Waqf Boards. Many complaints were filed by Sunnis but to no avail. Hope the New Amendment Bill protects the citizens from radicalisation of waqfs.
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