By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: 8: In a revolutionary decision, the Andhra Pradesh State
Wakf Board has handed over the control of 11 prime Wakf properties to an
all women panel in the city.
The five-member womencommittee under the presidentship of Salma Jalees
was constituted on May 23. On Thursday the Board handed over the
management of 11 Wakf properties to the committee.
The women members will protect, manage and develop these Wakf
properties spread across twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This is
the first time that women are controlling Muslim endowment properties in
the country.
The committee has been entrusted with the job of paying seven per cent
Wakf Fund to the Board. It will spend 10 per cent on maintenance of the
institutions and the remaining 83 per cent will be spent on welfare activities.
Till now these 11 institutions were under the direct management of the Wakf
Board.
The Muslim clergy in the city has reacted sharply to the Board's decision. In
an oral fatwa, Moulana Mufti Abdul Moghni of Sabeelus Salam, an
influential religious institution of higher learning, described the move as
irreligious and against the spirit of the Wakf Act. Moulana Syed Shah
Badruddin Al-Qadri Al-Jeelani, chief patron of Sunni Ulema Board also
described the appointment as un-Islamic.
