<Article>Ijtihad-based Developments of the Waqf System in Islam and its Re-institutionalization in the Contemporary Context: Historical and Theoretical Reflections

Abstract

In relation to the recent phenomena of the revival or revitalization of the Waqf system in Muslim countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia, how to comprehend the Waqf system as whole, in both its historical and contemporary contexts, has become an urgent concern for those who are engaged in Islamic economics and Islamic economic studies. In order to respond to the concern, this article investigates the origins of the Waqf system in the foundational texts of Islam, namely, the Qur'an and the Hadith. It demonstrates that in contrast to the Zakat system, there is a scarcity of texts directly related to Waqf. Given the width of the spread of the Waqf system progressively in Muslim societies in history, and developments of legal rules for it, the Waqf system is classified as a system built through ijtihad-based institutionalization responding to the social needs, not as a system developed through articulation and interpretations of the foundational texts. Consequently, in order to understand such a type of institution-building, this article proposes the Nuẓum theory, or the Theory of Islamic Institutions, and discusses how to utilize this theory as a framework for the analysis of the Waqf system in both its historical and contemporary contexts.