“This is a Waqf world and we all are living in it”. With the scale at which Islamists are claiming small plots to vast swathes of land to an entire country as Waqf property, the day is not far when the Islamists will declare the whole planet Earth as Waqf property. Islamists use myriad tactics to assert the supremacy of Islam, be it terrorism, brainwashing and conversion, or playing the Islamophobia card when confronted to oust non-Muslims from their houses by randomly claiming ownership in the name of Waqf. Waqf has proven to be one of the most lucrative methods to spread the dominance of Islam.
It is the very desire to establish Islamic supremacy across the world that numerous Islamist groups, both armed and unarmed, are engaged in conflict with forces that refuse to cede their land, religion and culture to the Islamists. One such force is Israel, the West Asian country that has long been thwarting the violent designs of Palestinian Islamic terror group Hamas to take over Israel in the garb of the farcical ‘resistance’ to ‘free Palestine’. While the Hamas attack on Israel on 7th October 2023, snowballed into a full-fledged war as Israel resolved to annihilate Hamas, the Islamic terror group has used Waqf as an instrument to assert its exclusive claim over Israel. Yes, Hamas has claimed that this entire country is Waqf property.
Before delving into the 1988 Hamas Charter [also called Hamas Covenant], it is essential to understand what is Waqf. The literal meaning of Waqf is detention, confinement, and prohibition. According to Islam, the property marked as Waqf is now available only for (Islamic) religious or charitable purposes, with any other use or sale prohibited. According to Sharia law, once a Waqf is established and property is dedicated to it, it becomes Waqf property forever.
Hamas Charter and the ‘Waqf’ of Israel
The Hamas Charter, adopted in 1988, outlines Hamas’s ideological standpoint regarding Israel, Palestine, and the larger conflict between Jews and Muslims. One of the key assertions in the charter is that all of Israel, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, is considered Waqf land that belongs exclusively to Muslims. This argument is based on the concept that once a land has been claimed by Islam, it will never return to non-Muslim control. Thus, Hamas considers all of Israel to be ‘illegitimately occupied’ by the Jews and is hell-bent on bringing it under Islamic autonomy.
One of the most common phrases used by Islamists and their non-Muslim cheerleaders [read left-liberal, DEI enthusiasts] to garner support and sympathy for Hamas and Palestine is “You don’t have to be a Muslim to stand with Palestine”. This appeal has proven to lure even those like the LGBTQ+ community members, and non-Muslim university students, who are despised by Islamists to extend their support to Hamas. However, the Islamic terrorist group Hamas has clearly stated in its charter that the Palestinian movement aims to establish the supremacy of Allah over “every inch of Palestine”.
Article 6 of the Hamas Charter says: “The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinguished Palestinian movement, whose allegiance is to Allah, and whose way of life is Islam. It strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.”
The Hamas Charter has declared Israel as Islamic Waqf hallowed for the coming Muslim generations until the Yawm ad-Din or Judgment Day.
“The land of Palestine is an Islamic Waqf [Holy Possession] consecrated for future Moslem generations until Judgment Day. No one can renounce it or any part, or abandon it or any part of it,” Article 11 of the Hamas Charter reads.
The very reason why all the efforts by Israel to reach a peaceful solution to the Israel-Palestine dispute have gone in vain can be understood from Article 13 of the Hamas Charter which outrightly dismisses even any possibility of a peaceful resolution of the dispute with Israel as a “waste of time” since “Jews are infidels and only Jihad is the solution.”
Notably, the Israel-Palestine-Hamas conflict stems from Israel’s independence in 1948 and the succeeding Arab-Israeli wars. But Hamas’ unwillingness to recognise Israel’s right to exist, as well as its desire for its annihilation, as written in the Hamas Charter, leaves no room for any peace talks. Israel’s military retaliation to Hamas rocket launches and invasions is part of its overall self-defence plan. However, Hamas continues to deploy violent tactics, in addition to using civilians as human shields in Gaza.
“[Peace] initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement… Those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the infidels as arbitrators in the lands of Islam… There is no solution for the Palestinian problem except by Jihad. Initiatives, proposals, and international conferences are but a waste of time, an exercise in futility,” Article 13 of the Hamas Charter states.
Hamas’s call to Jihad and annihilation of Jews
Hamas also called for the slaughtering of Jews and asserted that the “Judgment Day” would not come until the Muslims fight and kill the Jews. To back its call to violence, Hamas cites references to the Islamic text.
“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him,” Article 7 of the Hamas Charter reads.
Notably, the Islamic verse mentioned in Hamas Charter’s Article 7 is taken from Sahih Al Bukhari (a collection of Hadith and book of Sunnah) which reads: “The hour will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and the Muslims kill them, until the Jew hides behind the stones and trees and the stones or trees say, ‘O Muslim, O servant of Allah, this is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”
The Hamas Charter also portrays Jews as deserving only humiliation and a miserable existence. According to the charter, Jews are worthy of a life of misery and dishonour since they “displeased Allah, rejected the Quran and killed the prophets.” The text also contains anti-Semitic stereotypes based on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, as referenced in Article 32, about Jewish dominance over the media, film industry, and education. The lies are regularly repeated to portray Jews as responsible for the French and Russian revolutions, as well as all world and local wars: “No war takes place anywhere without the Jews’ being behind it,” Article 22 states.
Israel to India: Waqf as an effective tool of Islamists to suppress its ‘infidel’ enemies
Incidentally, the menace of Waqf is nowhere near as rampant as it is in India. Waqf has a long history in India, dating back to the early days of the Delhi Sultanate when Sultan Muizuddin Sam Ghaor granted two villages to the Multan Jama Masjid and delegated management to Shaikhul Islam. As the Delhi Sultanate and the following Islamic dynasties thrived in India, the number of Waqf properties soared. While Islamic and Muslim-dominating nations like Turkey, Indonesia, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have adopted a centralised approach in Waqf management to ensure transparency, in India, the powers of the Waqf Board have largely been unchecked. However, the ruling Modi government has been making some attempts through its Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024, which amends the Waqf Act, of 1995. The bill has been sent to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further scrutiny.
Even in post-independence India, the Waqf Board controls huge tracts of land and is often involved in legal battles over land ownership. The Waqf board has also gone to court for literally any property they eyed and litigated the hell out of the system, often making ludicrous claims.
Interestingly, while the leftists and Islamists cry hoarse that the Muslim ‘minority’ [read second largest majority] is oppressed in India, the nearly invincible Waqf Board in a Hindu-majority India is the third-largest landowner in India, after the government and the Indian Railways, with its control extending over 600,000 acres of land while Hindu majority has no such body. Too much oppression of Muslims, isn’t it?
A detailed OpIndia report on Waqf and its history in India as well as how Muslim appeasement politics of the Congress party made the Waqf Board powerful beyond imagination, can be read here.
Outrageous claims of land ownership
Waqf Board also has a record of making the most outrageous land ownership claims. Back in 2018, the Sunni Waqf Board was asked by the Supreme Court to submit papers signed by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in which they were given the rights to the Taj Mahal. This came after the Board claimed ownership of the Taj Mahal. In 2005, the Sunni Waqf Board passed an order in July 2005 which decreed that the monument should be registered as their property. There has been a stay on this order.
In 2022, Hindus were denied permission to hold Ganesh Chaturthi Puja on the Bengaluru Eidgah ground as a dispute was ongoing between the Karnataka Waqf Board and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike over the ground’s ownership. In this case, even though there was no title transfer to any Muslim organisation as per the government, Waqf’s claims that it was a Waqf property from the 1850s means that it is now forever a Waqf property since they say “Once a Waqf, always a Waqf”.
In 2022, the Gujarat Waqf Board had staked claim to the Surat Municipal Corporation building which is now the property of the Waqf because the documents were not updated. As per Waqf, back during the Mughal era, the Surat Municipal Corporation building was a Sarai and used during the Hajj travels. The property then belonged to the British Empire during British rule. However, when India gained independence in 1947, the properties were then shifted to the government of India. However, since the documents were not updated, the SMC building then became Waqf property, as per them. Remember? Once a Waqf, always a Waqf.
Similarly, the Gujarat Waqf Board had also staked a claim on the ownership of two islands in Bet Dwarka in Devbhoomi Dwarka, however, the court baffled over the bizarre claim asked the Board to revise its plea.
Another such shocking case was reported in Surat wherein one of the plot owners registered his plot in Shiv Shakti society with the Gujarat Waqf Board, making it a holy place for Muslims, and people started offering Namaz there.
In continuance of what may seem absurd to non-Muslims, but in reality a dogged effort by the Muslims to bring yet another important property under Islamic control, the Gujarat Waqf Board partially approved an application and declared the Surat Municipal Corporation Headquarters as Waqf property in November 2021. After three years, SMC’s efforts paid off and the Waqf Tribunal quashed the Waqf Board’s order.
In September 2022, OpIndia reported how the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board claimed ownership of the Hindu-majority Thiruchenthurai village near Trichy. The issue was uncovered when a person named Rajagopal attempted to sell his 1 acre 2 cents of land to one Rajarajeshwari. When Rajagopal, a resident of the nearby village Mullikarupur village arrived at the Registrar’s office to get the sale of his land registered, he was surprised to learn that the land did not belong to him and instead belonged to the Waqf Board.
In August this year, the Bihar Sunni Waqf Board issued a notice in the Hindu-majority Govindpur village of Fatuha near Patna claiming ownership of around 7 Hindu houses. This village has a 95% Hindu population. Waqf Board gave 1 month time to Hindu residents to vacate their homes. However, the Hindus approached the high court and the court asked the Waqf Board to furnish evidence to back its land ownership claim. Unsurprisingly, the board failed to provide evidence since none existed.
In its latest attempt to illegally claim ownership of public property, the Shahi Idgah (Waqf) Managing Committee claimed ownership of the Shahi Idgah Park and opposed the installation of renowned freedom fighter Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmibai. The Committee had claimed that the park too where the statue was to be installed, was Waqf property. The Delhi High Court, however, ruled that there was no dispute that the surrounding area of the mosque and the park belonged to the DDA and was not a waqf property.
Ayodhya Ram Mandir to Kashi Vishwanath: Waqf Board’s fixation with claiming ownership of Hindu temples
The Sunni Waqf Board was one of the main litigants contesting the ownership of the site where the Babri structure stood on the birthplace of Lord Ram. Waqf Board has contended that the 16th-century Babri structure constructed by Mughal tyrant Babur was a historical mosque, and its legal ownership rested with the Muslims, as the site had been used for centuries as a place of worship. The matter reached Allahabad High Court. While the Sunni Waqf Board sought ownership of the disputed land and restoration of the Babri structure razed to the ground by Karsevaks in 1992, the Hindu side sought control of the Ram Janmabhoomi site to construct a grand Ram Mandir.
In 2019, the Supreme Court delivered a historic verdict ruling that the Ram Janmabhoomi site be handed over to the Hindu side and trust would be formed, while the Waqf Board was allotted 5 acres of land at an alternate location for the construction of a mosque. Waqf Board managed to keep Hindus away from one of their most sacred sites for decades.
Even in the Kashi Vishwanath Temple case, the Sunni Waqf Board out of nowhere claimed that the temple land was a Waqf property. Advocate Vijay Rastogi challenged the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board’s claim that the disputed property upon which the Gyanvapi Masjid stands today is a Waqf property. While the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath land dispute is ongoing in the court, it will not be surprising if the case takes an Ayodhya-like turn and the Waqf Board ends up getting land for constructing a new mosque as a gesture to preserve ‘communal harmony’ instead of being reprimanded for mindlessly claiming ownership of the disputed site.
If the systematic approach of the Islamists to use Waqf as a tool to spread Islamic dominance and targeting Hindus was not alarming enough, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) informed the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024 that the Waqf Board has arbitrarily claimed over 120 protected historical monuments. The ASI also extended support to the Bill.
Conclusion
From Israel to India, the hatred of Islamic radicalism uses the idea of Waqf as a tool to spread Islamic dominance and strip non-Muslims of the legitimate claim over their houses, properties and even the motherland. The idea of Waqf and the manner in which it is used to justify land claims is part of a larger pattern wherein Islamic doctrine is used to claim rights over land. In the context of Hamas, the assertion that all of Israel is Waqf property exacerbates the intractable dispute with Israel. How can a peaceful resolution of the Palestine-Israel dispute ever come up when Hamas finds legitimacy in massacring the Jewish people in the Islamic texts itself? The Preamble of the Hamas Charter says that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.” In such a case, Israel is left with no option but to retaliate against Hamas in the same violent fashion if Israel does not want the only Jewish nation to turn into Waqf property for eternity.
In the Indian context, the Waqf Act of 1995 gives the Waqf Board broad authority over Muslim religious and charitable properties. However, the law has been extensively abused as evident from the above discussion. Many properties have been arbitrarily claimed as Waqf, resulting in legal battles, communal tensions and riots. Muhammad Iqbal, the 20th-century poet and main proponent of the two-nation theory that culminated in the partition of India on religious lines, wrote in “Tarana-e-Milli”, “Muslim hain hum watan hai saara jahan humara [We are Muslims and the entire world is our homeland].” This literary composition reflects the mindset that Islamists have perpetuated to legitimise their dream of turning the entire world into “Dar-ul-Islam”. This mindset finds ways to assert Islamic dominance in non-Islamic nations like India and Israel, with Waqf being one of the most successful ways of doing the same. In a Muslim -majority Bangladesh, in place of Waqf, the Islamist governments have framed laws dedicated to declaring Hindus as ‘enemy’ and usurping their properties rendering them homeless and at the mercy of Islamists.
The mother of all ironies in this context is that, despite the fact that Islamists are trying to kill and drive out non-Muslim communities, particularly Jews and Hindus, the latter are presented as bigoted hatemongers and oppressors, while Islamists remain the ‘oppressed victims’ in mainstream media.
