Waqf In The Umayyah And Abbasid Dynasties Was Used To Build Schools And Scholarships

Illustration. (Photo: Pixabay)

JAKARTA - The government will use the waqf money with amount of Rp. 597 billion collected from a number of banks receiving waqf funds to build infrastructure. This has led many parties to question the validity of the use of waqf funds.

Looking back at the past, the use of waqf money was common, including during the period after the reign of Khulafaur Rasyidin, namely the Umayyah and Abbasid dynasties.

Reported by VOI from the official website of the Indonesian Waqf Agency, waqf in the past was not only intended for the poor but also as a capital for infrastructure development.

During the Umayyah and Abbasid dynasties, waqf was used as a public welfare fund, including for the development of infrastructure for educational institutions, libraries, and paying employees.

In addition, waqf money at that time was used to pay the teaching staff, and also as a source of scholarships.

The massive amount of waqf in the past has led to the creation of a waqf management institution. An example is the management of waqf during the Umayyad dynasty during the reign of Caliph Hisham bin Abdul Malik in 724-743 AD.

At that time there was a judge in Egypt named Taubah bin Ghar al-Hadhramiy who had managed the waqf body. Taubah at that time was both a supervisor and a recorder of waqf activities in Basrah.

Due to the high interest of the community at that time, a special waqf office was established to exercise control, so that management was under the authority of the judiciary.

Then during the Abbasid dynasty, there was a waqf institution called "shadr al-Wuquuf". This institution functions to take care of administration and select staff for managing the waqf institution.

Thus, waqf during the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties aimed to provide prosperity by providing economic benefits that could be felt directly by the people. This will make the waqf institution develop further.