Oversight of Wakaf Management

3 Dr Hamid Razak asked the Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (a) what governance and oversight mechanisms are in place to ensure wakaf assets are managed faithfully in accordance with donors’ intentions while remaining financially sustainable; and (b) how has wakaf management evolved in recent years to address challenges such as fragmented assets, rising maintenance costs, and redevelopment constraints in land-scarce Singapore.

The Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs (Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim): Sir, under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA), the ownership of all wakaf assets is vested in the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore, or Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS). The wakaf assets are managed by Warees Investments, a subsidiary of MUIS, and the appointed mutawallis, in accordance with the intentions of the wakif or donor.

There are clear governance mechanisms in place to ensure that wakaf assets remain financially sustainable and are managed with accountability and transparency.

First, all mutawallis must be approved by the MUIS Council and have the competencies to maintain good governance and long-term sustainability of the wakaf they oversee.

Second, Warees and the appointed mutawallis must comply with audit requirements set out under the AMLA, as well as undergo periodic checks by MUIS that religious guidance by the Fatwa Committee has been adhered to.

Third, the MUIS Wakaf Disbursement Committee, which comprises members from the MUIS Council, monitors and reviews annual wakaf disbursements, and makes recommendations on the allocation of wakaf funds, in accordance with the wakif’s intention.

Wakaf management has indeed become more challenging over the years. Amidst rising costs and development needs, MUIS and Warees strive to keep rents affordable, while performing their fiduciary duty to ensure sufficient financial returns for the wakaf beneficiaries.

Where tenants face challenges paying rent, MUIS and Warees engage them to understand their situation and explore repayment plans. For some wakaf properties, MUIS and Warees have also undertaken asset enhancement and redevelopment initiatives under the Wakaf Revitalisation Scheme to optimise financial returns while sustaining their heritage value. Recent examples include The Red House at East Coast Road, and Jamae Chulia Heritage Development at Mosque Street.

MUIS will continue to review and enhance wakaf asset management, to ensure that our wakaf assets can sustainably support their intended beneficiaries.

Mr Speaker: Dr Hamid.

Dr Hamid Razak (West Coast-Jurong West): Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the Acting Minister for his reply. I do appreciate the challenges faced in unlocking the assets and to create greater value.

In my interactions with members of the Malay/Muslim and the Indian/Muslim community, they have expressed interest to find out how the value from these wakaf assets can be used to uplift the community over time.

Secondly, I would also like to ask the Acting Minister, how does MUIS and its subsidiaries actually engage diverse segments of the Muslim community to ensure that their views are heard and incorporated into the asset management as well?

Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim: Sir, I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. These are very good questions indeed. In fact, we often hear and meet the community leaders, and they ask about such questions.

Essentially, the returns from the building rentals, as with any other forms of income generated from the wakaf assets are distributed to beneficiaries in accordance with the wakaf deed. So, we have to be very clear about that and we follow what is in the wakaf deed.

In 2024, a total of $11.3 million was disbursed to the wakaf beneficiaries, which include the family members of the benefactors, as well as mosques, madrasah, community organisations and charities. Depending on the intention of the wakif, these returns may be used to build and maintain mosques and madrasahs, support the poor and needy, and also, fund the development and welfare of the community.

In fact, I have been very fortunate to be involved in the development of wakaf back in the early 2000s, when I was in the MUIS Council, where I was actually looking after the wakaf aspect of MUIS work. I saw how the community worked together, with MUIS leading the community, to see how the returns go back to where it is supposed to be and to the community. Fast forward to today, the Member will see a vast development in that space, whereby, not only have asset or wakaf revitalisation and asset enhancement or optimisation been done, but also looking at the historic value of the wakaf.

All I can say is that, the community, in fact, has benefited a lot significantly from these wakaf returns. Sometimes, I discuss with the mosque leaders, community leaders as to how they have been using the returns and I am very happy to see that such returns are something that they look forward to because that helps, not only in how they manage the mosque, but also that helps in the way they reach out to the community and benefit the community.

So, I must say that the returns of wakaf assets not only go back to where it is supposed to be. But with the value enhancement efforts and the returns that the community has gained have somehow helped to build the community. It helps in the development of the Malay/Muslim and Indian/Muslim communities, and beyond.

Also, to the Member's second question about how we engage the community leaders. Yes, indeed, we do. In fact, just to give the Member an example, I was also directly involved, I was helping Minister Masagos on the restoration works of the historic Jamae Chulia Mosque and the development and construction of Jamae Chulia Heritage. I remember the various engagement sessions we had. We tried to reach out to the Indian/Muslim community leaders, had many sessions, even went back and forth when they needed clarity, there were clarifications or even certain things that did not meet the planning criteria. We spoke to them and then, when there were constraints, we decided on an option that would provide a balanced outcome.

I must say that this process had not only reached, but also gave the community leaders the satisfaction that they are part of this journey. So, this is something that we want to continue to do. As the Member can see, the Jamae Chulia Mosque restoration has been completed, and the Jamae Chulia Heritage is going to be completed soon. It is the pride of the community. And not only do we want to develop for today, I think the key, what I got from my engagement, is that the community leaders want to do this for the future generation as well.

So, I assure the Member that we will do our best to ensure that what the wakif would like to leave behind is not only acceded to, but we hold it with trust.