The Role of Waqf (Endowment) in Economic Development of Bosnia & Herzegovina: A Historical Overview and Future Prospects

Abstract

Despite a plethora of roundtable discussions and practical initiatives on sustainable socio-economic issues to solve the inequality gap between the rich and poor, policy makers and economists still remain in the dark and have not been able to unveil solutions to major social challenges to humanity concerning poverty, community empowerment, sustainability, and social injustice, globally. There are many verses in the Qurān that directs Muslims to engage in trade activities. Islam encourages social entrepreneurial ventures and gives the etiquette and spiritual guidance needed to engage in trade. Islamic Social Entrepreneurship (ISE), in particular, is vital for the Muslims to attain sustainable community empowerment, social and economic justice. Waqf (Islamic endowment) is indeed a vehicle for financing ISE and the waqf-ISE model, discussed in this paper, provides an environment that mobilizes resources to provide a platform that caters for socio-economic development. This paper showcases the waqf-ISE model which is engineered from ground zero from Islamic foundations, without emulating any Western model and provides a window of opportunity to solve many of the societal issues afflicting Bangladesh, particularly, in terms of poverty alleviation, socio-economic development and provides a platform to empower communities in a sustainable manner.