Author(s): Amal Hayati Ishak, Kamal Arij Kamaruzaman, Che Zuina Ismail
Waqf or endowment is a valuable Muslim asset that should be developed and sustained. Based on the literature, sustainable waqf property reflects on its productivity, benefits and increased value, in tandem with the donors’ intention, beneficiaries’ advantage and the recent UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), at the macro level. However, certain limitations have hinder waqf land development resulting in its abandonment and idleness. Therefore this study analyzes the development of waqf land as executed by Terengganu State Islamic Religious Council (TSIRC) Malaysia, since the state is among the top five states with abundant unused waqf land. These studies seek the practical evidence of how waqf land development can be sustained and consequently preserve the intention of waqf contributors. For that purpose, representatives from TSIRC were identified and interviewed, besides content analysis of relevant official documents to deduce answers to the research questions. Findings show that there are three viable and profitable methods which translate sustainable development of waqf land, as executed by the researched locality. Thus, the findings contributes to the dearth of literature in sustainable development of waqf land, providing insights to the waqf authorities to ensure well-managed and sustained waqf development projects, whilst preserving the perpetual rewards as deemed by the contributors.