Bidar: Former Union Minister for Minority Affairs K Rahman Khan deplored the lack of concern and sensitivity among Muslims for the protection of waqf properties, saying that if rent were to be collected at market rates, waqf holdings could generate an annual income of 10,000 crores and Muslims would no longer need to appeal to the government for assistance. He exhorted the community to make the safeguarding of waqf assets a goal and a movement.
The two-day national conference on “Waqf and Zakat,” which was held here on January 20–30, featured an opening address by the former minister and former deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha Rehman Khan.
Khan added that Muslims share equal blame for the destruction of Waqf holdings located all over the country. The fact that they were so susceptible to emotional problems and missed important and urgent problems is a curse on the community. And both the religiously educated and the highly educated segments of the population share equal blame for this.
He claimed that despite understanding that waqf property belongs to Allah and that they were appointed as its custodians, members of the community do not step forward to defend it when it is being encroached upon.
He added that the lack of attention shown by the government and administration in protecting waqf properties had led to encroachment on the properties.
He recalled how the Indian Parliament had expressed a strong interest in waqf affairs, formed a joint parliamentary committee to investigate the issue in-depth, produced a thorough report, and passed an act to safeguard awqaf.
Are Muslims using the Waqf Act to protect the waqf properties enough? He queried.
“Every Muslim has a religious obligation to preserve and develop waqf properties, and if they ignore or remain silent about ongoing encroachment, they are committing a crime”.
He emphasized that the Waqf Act makes intrusion a crime and that Act’s article 52A gives the perpetrator of such an offense a two-year prison sentence.
He underlined that the Waqf Act was perfect and that all that was required now was for the community to sincerely work to maintain and promote the waqf holdings that may provide them a windfall of cash.
Waqf land can be cleared of unauthorized encroachment, and the Act has granted state bodies the power to do so. It’s not apparent, though, whether the waqf board is truly making the necessary arrangements.
He also exhorted Ulema and Imams to adopt a new mindset and urge the community to protect the waqf holdings.
The conference was designed to highlight the issues with waqf and zakat and provide solutions, according to Dr. Abdul Qadeer, chairman of the Shaheen Group of Institutions.
We invited eminent academics, activists, and attorneys from throughout the country to the conference who offered solutions to these issues. He believed that waqf and zakat may help the community’s issues with poverty, illiteracy, and economic and educational backwardness. He claimed that the distinctive feature of the Islamic way of life is that Zakat is addressed following the most significant acts of worship, such as Namaz. By properly using Waqf income and Zakat funds, he continued, we may build schools, colleges, hospitals, and other community welfare institutions.
Syed Akmal Rizvi, a lawyer of the Karnataka High Court, claimed in his address that waqf has been reduced to a religious subject and that those with knowledge of waqf issues are not included in committees and boards that are relevant to waqf. In addition, Maulana Rasheed Firangi Mehli discussed the need of protecting waqf properties, adding that it is our Islamic obligation to do so.
According to Syed Ahmad Zia, the zakat funds must be distributed in a proper and organized manner. He asserted that if we adhere to the Zakat procedures in their entirety, we will be able to eradicate poverty in the community.
Dr. Aslam Parvez, a former vice chancellor of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, stated in his presentation that zakat is a very effective economic tool that may do wonders for programmes aimed at reducing poverty. In light of the Quran, he emphasized the significance of Zakat.
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