Wisdom is learning from other people’s experience.

India’s Waqf endowments are under pressure from Hindutva nationalism. The question worth sitting with is not only what is being done to them now, but what brought them to a position where it could be done — and what earlier leaders could have put in place to prevent it.

Beyond the financial impact, the proposed legislation reaches into the historic, social and structural fabric of a Muslim community of more than 200 million people.

Questions South African Muslims should be asking now

We need to consider the following urgently, collectively and proactively — so that in thirty, a hundred or a hundred and fifty years we are not facing a challenge to our own Waqfs and institutions.

Registration and compliance

• Is there any register of Waqf properties in South Africa?
• Are all Waqf properties correctly registered — as entities, NPOs, PBOs?
• Are they compliant with the legislation, and is that compliance current?
• Are those that qualify registered as national heritage sites, and protected and managed as such?

Governance

• What oversight, compliance and ethical standards are applied?
• What protections exist against mismanagement, corruption and abuse?
• What are the minimum — and the ideal — skills required to manage a Waqf?

Condition and funding

• What is the physical state of each Waqf entity?
• Do they have sufficient funding, and maintenance, emergency and renovation budgets?

Strategy

• What is the strategic plan for Waqf properties — individually, and collectively?

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Background on the Indian Waqf legislation — Al Jazeera.

Related

India’s Waqf Amendment Bill — A Call to Object · Safety and Security for Musaajid, Islamic Spaces and Events

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of protecting and investing in our community and public assets, properties, heritage, history, faith and culture, for generations to come.