BEAUFORT: Land or any assets intended for waqf (charity) must be registered with the Islamic Religious Council of Sabah (Muis) for gazette.
Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Ruslan Muharam said, it is necessary to avoid any problems in the future involving claims of heirs when the original owner dies.
He said some construction and renovation of public facilities such as halls on waqf land were disallowed by heirs because there was no evidence that the site had been made a waqf.
“Most waqf agreements were only verbal without any documents until problems arise when heirs refuse to release land or buildings after the original owner dies.
“Recently, there was a hall on a waqf land that was built a long time ago and renovated costing hundreds of thousands but it cannot be used by the people because the heirs do not allow it.
“This situation was certainly a waste of the people’s money. Therefore, I call on those who intend to endow land or assets to register at the Muis Waqf Division for the gazette,” he said.
He said this when met after inaugurating the Special Waqf and Zakat Awareness Forum at the Al-Ghaffur Mosque in Kampung Luagan in conjunction with State Waqf Month, here, Wednesday.
In the same development, Ruslan who is also the Lumadan assemblyman suggested that all mosques establish a Waqf Fund to finance any development in their respective mosques.
He said the Waqf Fund is different from the existing mosque fund because it is more specific for purposes such as the expansion of the mosque, or the construction of toilets and so on for the benefit of the parish.
“In this way, contributors can see where their donation money is used, further facilitating the planning of any mosque development, realised.
“For example, the Al-Ghaffur Mosque is wide but lacks a parking area, so the mosque authority needs to create a Waqf Fund specifically to build this parking lot.
“Therefore, all mosques need to have initiatives like this because the Waqf Fund is very useful to not only facilitate, but speed up the planned development,” he said.caption
