WAQF: Not Just for Muslims

For centuries, Islamic finance has been an integral part of Islam in the Middle East and South Asia. In the current age, Islamic Finance has seen an increasing demand for transparent, sustainable and ethical investments and fund management has been the leading cause of growth in this burgeoning financial sector. Due to the growth of Islamic Finance worldwide, more and more non-Muslims are opting to avail of the Islamic banking system.

This not only lets them get involved in a banking system that is morally and ethically sound but opens doors for them to be introduced to the various options Islam provides for the “giving of alms” or charity. One instance of Islamic charity I would like to look at is WAQF that allows anyone, including those who are non-Muslim, to contribute in donating property and assets, not only to be used to benefit the Muslim community alone, but also non-Muslims.

FINTERRA’s WAQF Chain aims to increase engagement and raise awareness as well as funds for WAQF development via crowd funding of WAQF projects. The use of blockchain technology goes a long way in making processes more efficient, transparent and immutable. This is in keeping with the Shari’ah principles.