Socio-Economic Role of Waqf in Kano, Nigeria: Reconsidering the Evidence

And suggesting a Need for Understanding Waqf Donors‟ Philanthropic

Motivations*
By

Muhammad Ibrahim Nuruddeen

B. Sc. (Accounting), M. Ed. (Community Development)
FCNA, PDMC, MBA, PGDE
Chief Lecturer, Department of Accountancy
School of Management Studies
Kano State Polytechnic, Kano, Nigeria
Email: nuru313@yahoo.com

Abstract
A holistic view of waqf as a philanthropic institution in Islam for improving all aspects
of social life is necessary for any Muslim community to derive the most from the
benefits provided by the institution over the centuries. But communities that have a
narrow perception of the purpose and role of waqf are bound to face developmental
problems for neglecting a vital function of the institution in providing socio-economic
services that are crucial in addressing social problems and improving the overall quality
of life of the ummah. The objective of this paper is to draw attention to the need for a
balanced view of waqf as an all-inclusive philanthropic mechanism for promoting
public welfare. By re-examining the evidence of a previous study, the paper concludes
that Muslims in Kano, Nigeria, have a lopsided opinion about the role of waqf. The
paper recommends that it is necessary to investigate waqf donor motivations
empirically so that reasons could be systematically identified in order to plan effective
strategies likely to re-align public perception with the holistic view of waqf.

Key words: Waqf, waqf donors, philanthropic motivations, empirical study, socio-
economic services, Muslim community

Introduction
Waqf (plural- awqaf), in history, played a central role in the continuous growth and
development of the broader Muslim community. Being a philanthropic endowment, waqf is a
donation for the sake of Allah and its income is used for the good of the community. As a
voluntary dedication of wealth in perpetuity, awqaf were founded to provide public goods
and services, as Setia (2011) observes, in the „interest of the community.‟ Consequently,
awqaf were used to great advantage in providing „educational, religious, social and welfare
development of the ummah‟ (United Ulama Council of South Africa, 2011).
________ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ___ ________ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ___ ________ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ____

*This paper is part of the author‟s forthcoming doctoral thesis titled: An assessment of waqf based philanthropy
in community development in the North West Zone, Nigeria.

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Numerous awqaf in the Muslim world abound as to defy precise categorization. However, as
UN-HABITAT (2005) states, five major classes can be identified falling under 1) Education,
2) Food, 3) Health, 4) Housing and 5) Religion. Under each of these classes, further sub-
types can be found. For example, under the Food category one finds Water and Sanitation
Waqf (Waqf Future Fund, 2006); waqf for animals like “cow endowed to provide milk for the
poor” (Shatzmiller, 2001:5) and waqf for farmlands that yielded income for the support of
mosques (Shatzmiller, 2001:51; Abattouy and Al-Hassani, 20013:380). In another instance, a
piece of land was endowed for cultivation and the proceeds dedicated to the entertainment of
guests (Abattouy and Al-Hassani, 2013:48).

Though waqf is a religious philanthropic institution, history has shown that it provided
services that were not limited to the “religious” sector in the narrow sense of places of
worship or rituals, but encompass the whole aspects of community and social life.
Chepkwony (2008) and Kahf (1998) observe that waqf played important roles in the
provision of education, health and socio-cultural centres as well as public goods like roads
and bridges.

Subai (as cited in Senkaya, 2014) asserts that apart from providing places of worship and
religious schools, awqaf have served as welfare mechanisms establishing “mobile hospitals
moving from village to village.” Awqaf were endowed for promoting science and
technological research, beautifying and renewing cities, constructing water fountains in city
squares, establishing orphanages, sponsoring weddings of couples unable to meet marriage
expenses, building factories and establishing income-generating businesses, providing
employment and building lodges for wayfarers (Kahf, 1998; Abattouy and Al-Hassani, 2013;
Bremer, 2004 and Cizakca, 1998).

Practically, awqaf were founded in different spheres of social life and the diversity of
services provided through them can be seen from the variety of beneficiaries of endowed
properties. Senkaya (2012:3-4) notes

Awqaf have served the public for a variety of purposes that outline an endless list:
protecting the unfortunate, meeting the need of wayfarers and pilgrims, raising orphans,
helping the bankrupt or those with excessive debt,...taking care of the environment,
paving roads, enlightening streets, paying a neighbourhood‟s taxes, supporting retired
sailors, organizing picnics for a designated guild, subsidizing the cultivation of rare
roses, lending to small businesses, helping prisoners, and providing toys to children of
poor families... Awqaf, in other words, became the medium for financing Islam as a
society and have served as the primary mechanism for a better distribution of income.

It is evident that the range of services provided by awqaf is not limited to simply helping the
poor and the needy, nor is it restricted to „religious‟ aspects of life but extends to all
community members and all aspects of social existence.

Notwithstanding the significance and diverse role of awqaf in providing services that
improved the socio-economic wellbeing of Muslims over the centuries, the institution of
waqf is faced with certain problems. First, as United Ulama Council of South Africa (2011)

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notes, “waqf is on the decline and has been caught in a downward spiral.” It means that there
is need for reviving waqf activities.

Second, waqf practice seems to be one-sided as, according to Mahmud and Haneef (2010),
“contemporary practice of waqf represents somewhat skewed understanding of the concept of
waqf khairi (philanthropic endowment) as it is taken to mean devoting for purely ritualistic
causes.” In this respect, it is crucial to ensure that waqf founders embrace a balanced view of
waqf that encompasses the provision of services both for the good of din (hereafter) and
dunya (this world).

Of these two problems, this paper focuses of the second because certain Muslim communities
are apparently yet to appreciate the comprehensive role of awqaf let alone utilize them in a
holistic, rather than restrictive, manner. Consequently, the objective of this paper is to draw
attention to the need for a balanced view of waqf as an all-inclusive philanthropic mechanism
for promoting public welfare.

Compared to the diversity of waqf-based philanthropic activities in Muslim history and in

contemporary times, studies (Wambai, 1991; Muhammad, 2010 and Sani, 2011) show that
waqf practices in Muslim communities in Northern Nigeria in general appears restrictive as
they mostly focus on the ‘religious’ aspect of community life. Properties are endowed for
‘ritualistic’ support as prayer houses (mosques), burial grounds (cemeteries) and centres of
education (narrowly defined as spiritual learning). Such restrictive practices tend to ignore
socio-economic and other welfare needs of Muslim communities and this may be responsible
for poverty and economic hardships, inequality and social injustice, a situation described by
Walker (2012) as “very deep development problems” in Northern Nigeria.

In Kano in particular, instead of establishing awqaf to cater for all sectors of life, as Islamic
civilization shows, Muslims seem to approach endowing waqf from a limited „religious‟
perspective as the evidence from an earlier study (Muhammad, 2010) by the author revealed.
Part of the findings of that study on the socio-economic role of awqaf are reproduced and
reconsidered in the light of the need to understand philanthropic motivations of waqf donors.
This reconsideration, the author believes, is important because planning effective strategies to
change the attitude of waqf philanthropists towards endowing more socio-economic, rather
than „religious,‟ awqaf rests, in part, on understanding the factors that motivate them to
endow in the first instance.
On the whole, given the low regard to the socio-economic role of awqaf in Kano, as the
evidence presented in this paper shows, it is essential to investigate waqf donors‟
philanthropic motivations and related social psychological factors in order to identify the
barriers preventing them from perceiving the establishment of socio-economic awqaf as
equally „religious‟ which are required to overcome many social problems retarding
community wellbeing. Before doing that, the research evidence relating to the Kano study
will be presented.

Socio-economic role of waqf in Kano, Nigeria- Reconsidering the Evidence

The author conducted a study (Muhammad, 2010) entitled Utilization of Endowments
(Awqaf) in Financing Community Development Programmes in Kano Metropolis, to

3
investigate, inter alia, respondents‟ opinions about the socio-economic role of awqaf
(endowments). The method used was cluster analysis and data were obtained through
structured interview. The initial sample of four hundred subjects selected from five clusters
consisted of ulama (Islamic scholars), qadis (Shari „a court judges), informed elite, business
class members and others (such as politicians and school teachers). Employing cluster
analysis technique, two homogenous clusters emerged: Cluster 1 consisting of ulama and
qadis; Cluster 2 composed of business class members, informed elite and others.

Respondents‟ opinions were sought on six variables of socio-economic roles of awqaf:

building mosques, education/scholarship schemes, health care, housing, job opportunities and
water supply. The results show that the highest proportion for both Clusters 1 and 2 occurs in
respect of provision of education/scholarship. Three variables, health care, housing and job
opportunities have the least, and equal, scores in respect of Cluster 1. These same three
variables also have the least, and again equal, scores for Cluster 2.

Discussion and Reconsideration- The highest proportion for both Clusters 1 and 2 occurs in
respect of education/scholarship. This alone, 125 out of 400 respondents, does not seem to
reflect the reality in Kano until the proportion of respondents for mosques 95 is added. This
gives 220 out of 400 respondents which approximates to what obtains actually, where more
of the endowments in Kano, as the literature shows, are places of worship (including
Qur‟anic and Islamiyya schools). The lowest proportions given to job opportunities by
Clusters 1 and 2 (31 out of 400) attests to the credibility of the claim that there are few socio-
economic awqaf institutions in Kano.

This finding differs from Bremer‟s (2004) observation where for centuries Islamic charities
were involved in economic development and social services. Nevertheless it corroborates
Cajee‟s (2009) assertion that there is a considerable absence of social awqaf in South Africa
before 2001.

It also agrees with Islahi (1992: 377) who notes that, perhaps because “people followed their
local customs, traditions, and pseudo concepts of devotion and thawab,” he did not find, in
the Indian sub-continent, “awqaf for scientific researches, technical education, and general
economic welfare to the extent (he found) for worship places, traditional madrasahs, tombs,
monastery, etc.”

That Islahi attributed the conditions of waqf and their purposes in the Indian sub-continent to
“narrow and sometimes wrong concept of taqwa (piety) and thawab (reward in the
Hereafter),” points to the possibility of similar factors being responsible for the conditions of
waqf and their purposes in Kano. However, the reality may only be known after empirical
studies are conducted as this paper proposes subsequently following a consideration of the
need for appreciating waqf donor motivations.

Need for understanding donor motivations

For a number of reasons, understanding donor motivations, changes in and barriers facing
them is important as it provides fundraisers, charity leaders and other stakeholders with
“insight into emerging sector issues” (Lasby, 2013). Such issues include donors‟ concern

4
with the efficient use to which their donations are put or management effectiveness of the
awqaf they establish. As it were, it may be proposed that the more satisfied donors are about
the efficiency of fund utilization and the performance of waqf managers, the more likely
prepared they will be to donate more.

Lasby‟s examination of a survey data seems to confirm this proposition. Lasby (2013:79)
examined donors‟ responses to six motivations:-1. feeling compassion towards people in
need, 2. helping a cause in which one personally believes, 3. making contribution to the
community, 4. personally (being) affected by the cause of the (non-profit) organization, 5.
fulfilling religious obligations or belief, and 6. income tax credit. From the study, Lisby
found that the most significant change that occurred involved an increase in the number of
donors reporting that they did not donate more because, in their belief, „the money could not
be used efficiently.‟

Could efficiency issues have been the concern of waqf donors in Kano as to give low
consideration to socio-economic awqaf? Was it dissatisfaction with the performance of waqf
managers and the quality of services rendered by the awqaf? Could it be lack of knowledge
about the religious benefits (thawab) that accrue to founders of awqaf that address serious
social problems like teenage pregnancies, youth unemployment and drug abuse, poor and
overcrowding housing in Muslim cities and problems facing widows and orphans or other
vulnerable groups? May it be that the teachings of the ulama on charitable spending (infaq)
give more emphasis on building places of worship as to make philanthropists feel that
supporting awqaf for rituals (ibadat) is more preferable to sponsoring social transaction
(mu’amalat) services? Again, could it be the failure of waqf-based activists (the ulama,
academics, media and all those concerned with waqf knowledge dissemination and awareness
creation) to effectively motivate awqaf donors to give due regard to endowing socio-
economic awqaf?

At any rate, it appears necessary to undertake an empirical study of the philanthropic

motivations and intentions of Muslim awqaf donors if community wellbeing is to be
improved in a wider perspective through the institution of waqf in Kano. Doing so requires a
determination of reasons why funders would prefer to donate for ‘religious’ objectives rather
than ‘socio-economic’ or secular purposes. For example, presented with a choice between
building a mosque- a „religious‟ project- and a public convenience (consisting of a toilet and
bath)- a social -service‟-, which option would a Kano philanthropist prefer? In the same vein,
faced with choosing between sponsoring people on lesser-hajj pilgrimage to Makka (umrah-
a religious service) and financing the education of a needy neighbour‟s child (a social
service), which option, and why, would the philanthropist select?

The importance of these questions lies in recognizing that there could be certain factors that
help to explain the philanthropic choices of donors other than just the „religious.‟ But these
other factors are not revealed in most of waqf studies because these studies are “...theoretical
and normative...basically discussions on history, legislation and present waqf environment”
(Yaacob, 2005:33). There is the need, therefore, to go beyond mere description of past

5
achievements into acquiring insight into the underlying factors influencing philanthropic
behaviour; as well as ascertaining theoretical explanations for giving behaviour to facilitate
philanthropic planning and decision-making. As Ali (n.d:8) suggests, “the „thought process‟
of a waqif (donor/funder) should be a subject of research.”

This calls for empirical enquiry into social psychological factors influencing waqf donors‟
behaviour. But, as Linden (2011:356) contends, “the literature that contributes to a social-
psychological understanding of the factors that under lie an individual‟s decision to donate to
charity has been extremely limited.” To meet this gap, and following Ali‟s suggestion, the
writer hopes to empirically explore some of the questions raised in this paper in a study
currently being undertaken. Using theories like the theory of planned behaviour and social
cognitive theory, the study may reveal cogent explanations as to the reasons for the low
regard given to socio-economic awqaf in North-western Nigeria in general, and in Kano in
particular.

Since actions are based on intentions, as the Prophet‟s hadith says, analysing the influence of
attitudes, subjective norms and behavioural controls on waqf donors‟ intention to endow a
waqf may help in designing motivational strategies to modify waqf donor behaviour
(philanthropic actions) in the desired direction (establishing socio-economic awqaf). The
rationale behind this approach hinges on the link between three contructs: motivation,
intention and behaviour. As a general rule, since “Intention is ...assumed to be the immediate
antecedent of behaviour” (Ajzen, 2014), an examination of waqf philanthropic behaviour
should consider charitable intentions as predecessors to giving activities. So, since intention
(motivation) is considered as the driving force behind behaviour (Psychmajor, 2014), it
follows that philanthropic intentions (motivations) of waqf donors should be investigated to
get proper insight into the behaviour of waqf philanthropists. This is possible by using a
theoretical framework informed by social psychological theories like the theory of planned
behaviour, social cognitive theory and identification theory.

Conclusion and Recommendation

It is essential to investigate waqf donors‟ philanthropic motivations and related social
psychological factors in order to identify the barriers preventing them from perceiving the
establishment of socio-economic awqaf as equally „religious‟ which are required to overcome
many social problems retarding community wellbeing. By re-examining the evidence of a
previous study, the paper concludes that Muslims in Kano, Nigeria, have a lopsided opinion
about the role of waqf. The paper therefore recommends that, in order to revive the declining
institution of and restore a comprehensive view of its practice, it is necessary to investigate
waqf donor motivations empirically. With the support of theories like the theory of planned
behaviour (TpB) and social cognitive theory (SCT), reasons could be systematically
identified for the unbalanced regard given to socio-economic role of waqf in Kano so that
effective strategies likely to re-align public perception with the holistic view of waqf can be
designed for the overall good of Muslim communities.

6
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