Learn About WAQF

A Waqf (Awqaf plural) is an Islamic endowment, usually of property or land, which is held in a trust and used for a charitable or religious purpose. The designated ‘Waqf’ is thus used permanently to benefit the relevant causes either directly by use of the waqf, e.g. a hospital or university, or it is used indirectly by generating income from the asset which is then used for the charitable purposes, such as rent from a residential or office building.

Awqaf are permanent endowments such as buildings, land and other assets that can be used continuously for charitable or religious purpose. Zakat is a mandatory portion of your savings that has to be given in accordance with the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet, setting up a Waqf is not mandatory. Sadaqa is considered general charity and giving to NWF can be considered a specific form of ‘Sadaqa’.

Zakat can only be given to the categories Allah has mentioned specifically in the Quran (Surah Tawbah verse 60) and donating to or setting up a Waqf is not considered to be Zakat eligible.

Traditionally Awqaf were buildings or land that were handed over to the relevant authority to benefit the public, such as universities and schools. The NWF model allows much smaller donations that we can then pool together and invest in assets such as property. The income generated from these assets is thereafter distributed to the causes according to the agreed criteria.

In short, there is no minimum you can donate.

NWF has been setup to ensure complete transparency and independence of our fundraising, investment and grant management departments by ensuring they are each managed by their own committees that have decision making that is not reliant upon each other.

The everyday fundraising and operations of the organisation is managed by the operational team, led by the CEO who reports into the directors and trustees of the charity.

The Investment committee consists of the advisors and consultants that are overseen by our shariah board to ensure our investment choices and partners are shariah compliant. Our investment partners ensure that the performance of these investments are managed like any other investment portfolio.

Finally, our grant making process to charities is fully compliant with both best practice guidelines from the charities commission and HMRC advice. Any charities applying for grants have to evidence of meeting these criteria as part of their application process.

NWF aim’s to maximise the returns for the beneficiary charities by minimising its costs to administer the fund. We aim to do this in the following ways;

1. Gift aid donations: For individual tax payers, NWF will be able to claim 20% of their donation back from HMRC (once we are registered as a charity). However, we are unable to claim Gift Aid for business donations or from those that have not paid enough tax to cover the Gift Aid refund.
2. We aim to setup a separate development fund that will directly fund the operating costs of NWF based on the WAQF principles. We will fundraise for this fund separately and if you are interested in helping please get in touch.

NWF aims to pool the donations of donors to invest in assets that will perpetually give back to charities. Thus you can donate cash directly to NWF through it’s website or bank transfer using the details below;

Account Name: National Waqf Fund
Account No: 28746503
Sort Code: 60-05-30
IBAN: GB62NWBK60053028746503
BIC: NWBKGB2L

You can also donate property and land and other assets directly to NWF where we will transfer those assets into a trust for the causes you wish to support. This is of course subject to how the asset can be utilised. If you have assets you would like to contribute, please contact our Waqf team directly at [email protected].

Yes, we can transfer your property in to Waqf and distribute any income from it to the causes you choose.

Charities wishing to be considered to receive grants from the NWF will need to meet the criteria outlined in the Grant Application Process. This includes submitting an application with a project proposal that meets one or more of the causes identified by NWF and its donors. Once the application has been submitted, funds are allocated to relevant projects based on the amounts raised for the relevant causes.

We are a registered charity. Charity number 1197053.

NWF intends to use registered and authorised investment partners regulated by the FCA and other authorities in the UK. Our partners and investments are also vetted by our investment committee and shariah panel to ensure multiple layers of compliance. If you require further details of our investment partners, please contact us.

Our investment committee and grant making teams will collect and share all monitoring and performance of both investments and charitable grants directly on our website.