Waqf Land Development in Malaysia: Study on the Needs of the Beneficiaries

The development of waqf land is aimed at providing the social and economic benefits to the beneficiaries. Irrespective of the current development, it has been observed that there is no clear view on how far the waqf trustees looking at the needs of the beneficiaries before they developed the waqf land. This paper, hence aims to examine the extent the waqf trustees look at the needs of the beneficiaries of waqf land prior to its development in Malaysia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen MAIN with a total of 21 officers as the respondents of this study. The findings show that there is a lack of study on the needs of the beneficiaries done by MAIN. It is also submitted that there is also no clear understanding on whether the needs of beneficiaries are being fulfilled by the development of waqf land. As such, a post and prior studies of the needs of waqf land beneficiaries is the way forward in order to improve quality and impact of waqf land development and its benefits to the society.