Wasim al-Adawi, Rakan al-Khadr, Alaa Shaabo

The issue of Islamic endowments, known as waqf, has moved to the forefront of public debate and media analysis in Syria, as officials at the Syrian Ministry of Endowments announce plans to recover and reorganize endowment properties. The ministry has accused the former regime of neglecting the sector and exploiting it to serve the narrow interests of officials who benefited from corruption within state institutions.

The ministry’s plans face several challenges, including the need to audit paper records for tens of thousands of waqf properties and update the legal system governing them. The authorities also seek to recover these properties and increase their currently modest investment returns, particularly because most remain subject to Syria’s old rent law.

In this investigation, Enab Baladi examines the size of Syria’s waqf sector, the legal challenges that may confront the government’s plans, and the most economically effective ways to invest these assets and generate the highest possible returns.

From the Ottomans to the Assad Era

More Than 37,000 Properties, Where Did They Come From?

Although waqf properties in Syria date back to the early arrival of Islam in the Levant, their systematic documentation began during Ottoman rule, when the sector entered a more organized phase.

Endowments were recorded in a waqf deed written before a Sharia court in the presence of a judge and witnesses, before being entered into official registers.

These records have gained renewed importance amid reports that the Syrian Ministry of Endowments intends to retrieve copies from Turkey and use them to audit waqf properties, establish accurate numbers, determine their locations, and confirm their original ownership.

Documentation did not end with the Ottoman period. When France took control of Syria in the 1920s, waqf registration entered a new phase with the introduction of the land registry.

Decree No. 188 of 1926 formally recorded endowment assets by assigning them property registration entries that legally established ownership.

Law No. 31 Governs Waqf Investments

Syria’s waqf sector is currently governed by Law No. 31 of 2018, which regulates the Ministry of Endowments and includes provisions concerning endowment properties.

The law assigns several responsibilities to the Central Endowments Council, chaired by the Minister of Endowments.

The council’s powers include:

• Approving partnership agreements and waqf investments that achieve the highest possible returns, and authorizing the investment of movable endowment assets in accordance with Islamic law, including participation in Islamic banks and Islamic insurance companies.
• Establishing a system for collecting waqf revenues, employing collectors, and defining their rights, responsibilities, and work procedures to safeguard endowment rights.
• Establishing regulations and principles for investing, leasing, and developing waqf properties under build, operate, transfer, and return arrangements, as well as preparing the legal, technical, and financial terms governing such investments.
• Monitoring the implementation of contracts concluded with investors and approving contracts for the lease and investment of waqf properties.

Tens of Thousands of Properties Need Legal Reorganization

In remarks to a local platform in March, Syrian Minister of Endowments Mohammad Abu al-Khair Shukri said the ministry owns 37,000 waqf properties across Syria, more than half of them in Aleppo. He said the ministry had recovered only 10% of the total. According to Shukri, legal obstacles are hindering the recovery of the properties, particularly those related to the old rent system.

 He cited the example of a waqf-owned house in the al-Shaghour neighborhood of Damascus that is currently rented for 150 Syrian pounds a year, while its rent at current market rates would range from $400 to $500 a month.

The Ministry of Endowments is working to amend Law No. 31 in a manner consistent with Islamic jurisprudence governing endowments, before presenting the amended legislation to the People’s Assembly for approval.

Samer Bayraqdar, director of the Damascus Endowments Directorate, said waqf property records remain in paper form at local endowments directorates.

He said the ministry is working to digitize them throughout Syria. Most of the properties are governed by the old rent system, which offers the lowest rental rates in Syria, Bayraqdar added. The ministry is seeking to amend these contracts in accordance with applicable legislation, although no law has yet been issued to amend the previous legal framework governing the ministry’s work.

Waqf Properties Between Destruction and Corruption

Shukri said several waqf properties were destroyed during the years of war in Syria. He said investment contracts had been signed for 2,800 destroyed shops belonging to waqf holdings in Aleppo’s Grand Market. Under the agreements, the investors who had previously occupied the shops will rebuild them, after which rental revenues will be collected.

Shukri also said waqf properties were not exempt from the corruption that spread during the Assad regime. He accused
former Minister of Endowments Mohammad Abdul-Sattar al-Sayyed of designing Law No. 31 to serve his own interests. Some waqf properties were sold to influential figures affiliated with the Assad regime, Shukri said, in violation of Islamic rules prohibiting the sale of endowments or their use for personal purposes.

Shukri said Syria witnessed no new dedication of private property as waqf during the 60 years of Baath Party rule, which began when the party came to power in March 1963. People began registering new endowments again after the regime fell, he said, with 800 new waqf properties registered since the new government took office.

Waqf revenues do not enter the state’s general budget, Shukri said. They may be spent only through specified channels, including religious services and certain charitable activities, ranging from Quranic studies and Islamic education to social assistance.

The salaries and wages of mosque imams and preachers have been transferred to the state budget, he added. During the Assad era, their pay had been funded by waqf revenues.

Distribution, Value, and Returns

Enab Baladi received exclusive answers from Deputy Minister of Endowments for Waqf Affairs Samer Bayraqdar concerning the number, geographic distribution, value, and revenues of waqf properties.

The number is not fixed and continues to increase. Since December 2024, more than 1,100 additional waqf properties have been registered.

The increase includes newly constructed or recently endowed properties, as well as “discovered properties” that had existed previously but whose official documents and proof of ownership had allegedly been concealed or erased by figures affiliated with the former regime, according to the ministry official.

Following the government’s assumption of control over areas in northeastern Syria, the total number of waqf properties now exceeds 37,000.

Their geographic distribution, from highest to lowest, is as follows:

• Aleppo and its countryside: The largest concentration, containing slightly less than half of the total, or approximately 17,000 to 18,000 properties.
• Damascus and its countryside: The second-largest concentration, containing around one-quarter of all waqf properties, or approximately 9,000.
• Other Syrian governorates: The remaining properties are distributed among the rest of the country.

The Value of Waqf Properties

According to Bayraqdar, waqf properties cover all categories of real estate:

• Commercial properties: Shops, markets, and offices.
• Agricultural properties: Land suitable for farming and agricultural investment.
• Residential properties: Apartments and houses.

Explaining the concept of waqf, Bayraqdar said, “A waqf originally represents the best and finest of the private property owned by the person establishing the endowment, who freely chooses to dedicate it and withhold it for the sake of God Almighty.”

Priority in Recovering Waqf Properties

Bayraqdar said the ministry does not classify properties for recovery according to whether the land is sultanic or miri state land. Instead, it determines priority based on the legality of the current possession.

The process operates as follows:

• The first and highest recovery priority: Any property seized by figures affiliated with the former regime or their brokers, including those who falsified official documents or manipulated auctions to obtain property illegally. When the ministry establishes that such brokers possess a waqf property, it works to return it immediately to the endowment.
• Dealing with ordinary citizens: Properties legally obtained by members of the public under previous laws and regulations, without fraud, deception, or forged documents, will not be recovered. Existing agreements and contracts with those occupants will continue normally.

Waqf Properties and the Purposes of Their Investments

According to Bayraqdar, the current management system is based on the principle that most waqf properties are subject to the automatic legal extension of their contracts. The agreements therefore remain in force and are administered under existing laws and regulations.

Properties newly dedicated as waqf, as well as properties the ministry succeeds in recovering from people Bayraqdar described as “fraudsters and followers of the former regime,” are managed and invested in a manner intended to produce the best possible return. The proceeds must benefit the purpose specified by the person who established the endowment and comply fully with the founder’s intentions and the spending categories defined in the original will.

Returns From Waqf Investments

Bayraqdar said the overall financial return from waqf revenues has begun to rise gradually and noticeably.

He also described the ministry’s five-year strategic plan, which aims to achieve full financial self-sufficiency for all religious personnel working under the awqaf system. The plan seeks to provide every imam, preacher, muezzin, and mosque caretaker with a monthly salary equivalent to $100.

According to Bayraqdar, the ministry’s main objective is currently to secure a minimum standard of living and financial self-sufficiency for people working in the religious sector.

Approximately 40,000 people work in these positions, meaning the ministry would need $48 million a year to cover their salaries alone.

Financial Conditions, Past and Present

Total waqf revenues have increased from $1.65 million in December 2024 to $7 million today, according to figures provided by the ministry official.

This increase has been reflected in employee pay, with salaries rising from 3,000 Syrian pounds to 100,000 Syrian pounds. The ministry plans to continue raising salaries gradually as waqf revenues increase.

Who Invests in and Restores Waqf Properties?

According to Bayraqdar, waqf investment and restoration currently follow several models:

• Commercial investment and development: All investors and entities currently seeking to invest in or develop waqf properties are local Syrian parties.
• Restoration of historic endowments: Because restoring waqf properties with archaeological or historic significance requires high costs and specialized expertise, this work is carried out by international organizations, associations, and several countries interested in heritage preservation.

The sole beneficiary is the Ministry of Endowments, specifically for the care and operation of 17,100 mosques through the payment of entitlements to 40,000 religious workers.

Bayraqdar said administrative employees are financially separated from waqf revenues. Approximately 1,000 administrative employees working at the ministry and its directorates do not receive their salaries from endowment revenues. They are official state employees paid directly from the general state budget.

Finance and Economy Ministries Excluded From Waqf Management

According to Bayraqdar, the complete legal and religious separation of waqf funds is based on two principles:

• Waqf funds are private, not public, funds: An endowment originates as private property donated by its owner, usually amounting to less than one-third of the person’s assets, as an ongoing charitable gift for the sake of God. It is intended to ensure that the founder continues receiving religious reward after death and represents the practical application of a religious will. The state therefore may not treat it as public money.
• The founder’s condition is binding under Islamic law and civil law: Endowment revenues must be spent precisely on the beneficiaries and purposes specified by the founder. No government agency, including the ministries of finance or economy, has the right to merge these funds into the state treasury or spend them on public purposes outside the founder’s conditions.

Bayraqdar said the Ministry of Endowments serves as a supervisor and trustee. Under laws issued since 1950, endowments fall under the ministry’s authority so it can oversee the implementation of founders’ conditions and protect their properties.

He also discussed a future development plan under which the ministry is preparing to launch a “Diploma in Waqf Studies.” The program will teach the religious and legal sciences governing endowments and train qualified waqf trustees to manage these private properties. The plan will proceed alongside amendments to several laws regulating the sector.

Bayraqdar concluded by saying, “Waqf money is private money that must be spent according to the founder’s conditions. The Ministry of Endowments only supervises it under the laws and regulations currently in force.”

A “Unique” System for Protecting Property

What Do Islamic Law and Syrian Law Say About Waqf Properties?

Syrian lawyer Amal al-Dabbas Qablan told Enab Baladi that waqf is a distinctly Islamic institution unique to Islamic law. Other legal systems did not historically recognize it in its original form, she said, although many adopted provisions derived from Islamic jurisprudence.

The waqf system is firmly established in Islamic law and has also been incorporated into several Arab legal systems, including those of Syria and Saudi Arabia. Although there are minor differences in subsidiary provisions, the fundamental principles and general rules remain largely the same.

“Any investment project, whether based on partnership, mudaraba profit-sharing, or another permissible investment arrangement, remains lawful as long as it complies with the Islamic rules governing the investment of waqf property,”

Amal al-Dabbas Qablan
Syrian lawyer

Defining Waqf and Waqf Property in Islamic Jurisprudence and Syrian Law

Before discussing waqf real estate, Qablan said, the concept of waqf itself must first be defined. In Arabic, the term denotes restraint or prevention, while its technical definition differs among schools of Islamic jurisprudence.

One of the best-known definitions comes from the Hanbali school, which defines waqf as “preserving the principal and dedicating its benefit.” This definition is based on a saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad when he told his companion Umar ibn al-Khattab, “If you wish, preserve its principal and give its proceeds in charity.”

In Syrian law, Qablan said, lawmakers have provided several definitions of waqf in different pieces of legislation, including personal status laws governing religious communities. The most important definition, however, appears in Awqaf Law No. 31 of 2018.

Article 1 defines endowments as “movable and immovable property withheld under the ownership of God Almighty and allocated for public benefit in accordance with the provisions of Islamic law.”

Qablan said this definition is consistent with the religious nature of waqf and confirms the independence of endowment funds from private ownership. This serves the fundamental purpose of waqf, which is to ensure that its benefits continue to be used for the purposes to which the property was dedicated.

Syrian civil law defines real estate as “anything settled in and fixed to its location that cannot be moved without damage.”

Based on these definitions, waqf real estate may consist of land, a building, or any other property that is fixed by nature and allocated to fulfilling the endowment’s purpose in accordance with Islamic law and civil law.

Legal and Criminal Protection of Waqf Funds

Qablan said the Awqaf Law strengthened the legal and criminal protection of waqf funds by addressing different forms of infringement, whether committed by a public employee or another person. These provisions are intended to protect waqf assets and prevent violations against them.

She said this protection should be strengthened further through broader criminal provisions covering the different forms of infringement against endowments and complying with the principle that criminal offenses and penalties must be explicitly established by law. Qablan addressed this issue in her master’s thesis, titled “Legal Protection of Waqf Funds,” which included several legislative proposals for strengthening the civil and criminal protection of endowments.

Any investment project, whether based on partnership, mudaraba, or another legally permissible investment arrangement, remains acceptable if it complies with the Islamic rules governing waqf investment, she said.

The fundamental principle is to preserve the original waqf asset while developing its benefits. This principle is established in both Islamic and civil law and may not be violated under any circumstances.

The success of a waqf investment is measured by its ability to increase revenue while preserving the original endowment and avoiding risks that could result in the property’s loss or reduction.

Laws Regulate the Allocation of Waqf Revenues

Qablan said that because the Awqaf Law describes waqf funds as “allocated for public benefit,” it provides flexibility in directing their revenues toward areas that serve the public interest, support economic and social development, and benefit the country.

The decision on how the revenues are spent is not left to individual discretion, she said. It belongs to the Central Endowments Council, the body legally responsible for establishing spending priorities and distributing endowment resources in accordance with the law.

Qablan said Syrian lawmakers had been successful in regulating waqf investments because the Awqaf Law is fundamentally protective legislation. Its provisions aim to prevent infringements and abuses against endowment funds and could help restore the authentic role of waqf after decades of neglect and obstruction.

Public Auctions as a Safeguard Against Corruption

The Syrian law governing endowments is derived from Islamic law and grants each waqf an independent legal personality. This means an endowment has financial assets separate from both public and private funds, while enjoying certain protections granted to public property, including restrictions on some legal transactions involving it.

According to Qablan, requiring public auctions for waqf investments under clear legal procedures is intended to prevent favoritism, manipulation, and administrative corruption by subjecting investments to competition and transparency.

She concluded that Syria now has a genuine opportunity to implement the Awqaf Law after many of its provisions remained inactive during the former regime. She expressed hope that the present period would mark the beginning of a restoration of waqf’s developmental and civilizational role in serving society.

Which Sectors Offer the Best Waqf Investment Opportunities?

Economist Mulham al-Jazmati said there is no single sector that represents the most effective waqf investment. Instead, he supports combining income-generating assets with sectors that produce social benefits.

From a financial perspective, waqf real estate in major cities, particularly shops, markets, small commercial complexes, and mixed-use projects, remains the fastest way to generate stable revenue, al-Jazmati told Enab Baladi. These investments depend more on the value of the location and land than on operating activities.

Returns can be increased through property revaluation, improved contracts, restoration, and development under partnership or build, operate, and return arrangements, without selling the original waqf asset.

Al-Jazmati warned against restricting endowments to real estate alone, saying that doing so turns the waqf authority into a property owner rather than a development institution. He proposed using real estate to generate financing and directing the resulting revenues toward education, healthcare, and social welfare.

In Syria, education and healthcare are among the sectors with the greatest needs, he said, although they do not necessarily produce quick financial returns.

They could be supported through:

• Vocational schools.
• Educational scholarships.
• Low-cost health centers.
• Operating partnerships with specialized organizations.

Al-Jazmati described agriculture as a selective option that depends on land ownership conditions, water availability, and proximity to markets. Because agriculture is more complex than real estate, he recommended building a gradual investment portfolio that combines property, restoration, and selected agricultural projects, while directing the revenues toward social sectors.

Conditions for Turning Waqf Into a Development Tool

Al-Jazmati said transforming waqf into a development model requires reforms in governance and management, including:

• Creating a clear register of waqf assets that identifies their locations, legal status, contracts, and revenues.
• Adopting independent market valuations instead of administrative estimates.
• Regulating investment through transparent auctions and published contracts.
• Separating waqf revenues from administrative spending.
• Linking revenues to clear purposes, including education, healthcare, welfare, restoration, and local projects.
• Establishing specialized financial and judicial oversight.

“Waqf is neither state property nor private property, but a public asset. Weak governance therefore turns it into a source of rent rather than a development instrument,”

Mulham al-Jazmati
Economist

How Did the Idea of Waqf Develop Between History and the Present?

Political economy expert Yahya al-Sayed Omar reviewed the social history of waqf through examples including the Sulaymaniyya Takiyya in Damascus. The complex was established by Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1553. Its endowment was based on preserving the capital so its benefits would continue, feeding the hungry, sheltering travelers, and educating the poor.

Al-Sayed Omar told Enab Baladi that takiyyas were integrated centers of social life, distributing food every day and providing gathering places for poor people and students. They embodied waqf as a form of continuing compassion, he said.

This role declined in the modern era as endowments came under direct government supervision and lost some of their independence. Some were also appropriated for projects described as developmental, including road construction.

In Syria, some historic endowments were transformed into spaces with limited functions or tourist attractions. The Sulaymaniyya Takiyya, for example, lost its original social role.

Al-Sayed Omar also discussed Egypt, where endowments once represented a significant part of the social economy. Their role declined after 1952 amid administrative centralization, resulting in lower revenues and a diminished social role.

Other countries have attempted to revive waqf, particularly Turkey, which developed a centralized system for administering endowments and converted them into educational, healthcare, and service projects. This included the development of university endowments.

Al-Sayed Omar said modern models have also emerged, including “digital waqf” and “green waqf,” alongside the American endowment model, which has created major economic institutions supporting education and scientific research.

Governance and Development Challenges

Governance expert Bassem Hatahet said discussions about endowments in Syria require a precise approach because of the enormous scale of waqf assets and their historical role in the country’s economic and social structure.

Widely circulated estimates indicate that a significant proportion of Syria’s land, buildings, and markets fall under waqf ownership, he said. This gives the sector significant development potential if the properties are managed efficiently under clear governance principles.

During previous decades, however, endowments were subjected to looting, misuse, and ineffective investment amid the absence of institutional oversight and a governance framework capable of protecting the assets and managing their resources effectively.

Hatahet identified the sector’s principal challenges as:

• Fragmented regulatory authorities.
• Weak governance and institutional management.
• Poor investment of waqf assets.
• A lack of effective oversight.
• Limited development impact despite the scale of the assets and the social legacy of waqf.

These problems raise fundamental questions about how waqf administration can be rebuilt on more transparent and efficient foundations and linked to society’s development objectives, he said.

Hatahet proposed several principles for modern waqf governance, including:

• A clearly defined institutional authority.
• Independence in waqf decision-making.
• Separation between legislation, implementation, and oversight.

He also emphasized the importance of oversight through greater transparency, financial disclosure, auditing, review, and risk management.

According to Hatahet, a successful waqf system also requires stronger social participation through:

• Community participation.
• Fair distribution of benefits.
• Accountability.

At the strategic level, he emphasized long-term planning, performance measurement, and sustainability.

Investment programs should be introduced only after a governance system has been established, he said. This would allow endowments to be transformed from frozen assets into development tools capable of producing economic and social benefits.

How Is the State Reorganizing the Waqf Sector?

Deputy Minister of Endowments for Waqf Affairs Samer Bayraqdar said waqf is a pillar of community development and that the ministry treats it as a system directed toward the public interest.

In a video published through the ministry’s official channels, Bayraqdar said the sector had suffered neglect and infringements during previous years, prompting the ministry to launch a reform plan based on several tracks.

First, the ministry aims to regulate and reorganize the sector through:

• A comprehensive inventory of waqf properties.
• Documentation of their information.
• Establishment of a centralized database.

Second, it seeks to strengthen governance and legal protection through:

• Reviewing contracts.
• Correcting contracts that contain violations.
• Terminating contracts that violate the founder’s conditions.
• Recovering properties that have been unlawfully occupied.
• Conducting field visits to address problems.

Third, it seeks to develop and invest the properties through:

• Transparent public auctions.
• Modern investment strategies.
• Staff training.
• Updated technical systems.

Bayraqdar said these steps represent the beginning of a long process to restore waqf as a development and public service instrument.