The worldview of Islamic ethical wealth and its implications for SDGs: The case of Waqf

Abstract

Islam promotes supreme ethical values that feed into every practice, every move, and every action in the life of a Muslim; this includes the aspect that is related to philanthropy and charity. Islam establishes many forms of philanthropy and institutions that form an integral part of the third sector in the Islamic economic system. For instance, one of those institutions is the Islamic endowment (waqf) which has survived over a millennium, yet it offers unlimited capabilities. Today, the assets of waqf are estimated to be worth billions of dollars with tremendous potential (Rashid in IIUM Law Journal 20:103-138, 2012, p. 105). In contrast, Rehman and Pickup (2018) quote that the potential size of the annual alms, or zakāh (another Islamic philanthropical institution), has been estimated between US$200 billion and US$1 trillion. Due to the wealth provided by such philanthropic institutions and forms of charity in Islam, and due to their huge potential to alleviate poverty and relieve inflictions, they are referred to as Islamic ethical wealth. The chapter is structured into nine sections including the introduction. The subsequent section, section two, reviews related works of the worldview of one of the Islamic ethical wealth institutions, which is waqf, in order to identify the research gap. Section three provides an overview of the significance and socio-economic role of Islamic ethical wealth and the history of waqf. Section four discusses the Islamic worldview related to the components and dimensions of Islamic ethical wealth. Thereafter, section five focuses on one type of Islamic ethical wealth, which is waqf, and how it is distinct from the other types. Section six starts with developing a worldview-based definition and framework of waqf and then that is used to generalize and create a general worldview-based framework for all types of Islamic ethical wealth. Section seven surveys literature on selected issues of aberrations in waqf and analyzes these issues based on the waqf worldview framework. Section eight discusses the implications of Islamic ethical wealth worldview for SDGs. The final section, section nine concludes the chapter and provides suggestions for future research.