A Reading of the Experience
Palestine[i] is considered one of the first regions in the Levant where the waqf (endowment) system was established, especially since it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of the earliest religious endowments dating back to the era of the Prophet’s mission. It was officially designated as an Islamic waqf during the conquest of Umar ibn al-Khattab (15 AH/636 CE) and has remained a focal point of interest for caliphs, sultans, and Muslims throughout Islamic history, continuing to this day.
In the last century, Palestine was under full Ottoman supervision regarding its endowments and their administration. When the Ottoman Empire fell and the British Mandate (1920–1948) began, the waqfs were managed by the Supreme Muslim Council in Palestine under the Council’s system issued in 1921 during the British Mandate.
After the Nakba of 1948, most of the waqfs in what is known as the 1948 territories—constituting about 78% of historic Palestine—came under the control of the Zionist occupation. The administration of waqfs in the West Bank, particularly Jerusalem, followed Jordanian law, while the waqfs in the Gaza Strip were managed by the Egyptian administrative governor. This situation continued until the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994, when the Ministry of Waqfs and Religious Affairs was created across all Palestinian governorates in the West Bank and Gaza, except for Jerusalem, which remained under the authority of the Jordanian Ministry of Waqfs[ii].
Waqfs in Palestine, as they were during the Ottoman era, are divided into three types[iii]:
- Registered Waqfs: Managed by the Ministry of Waqfs, which oversees them directly.
- Annexed Waqfs: Managed by individuals under the supervision of the Ministry of Waqfs, usually due to lost documentation.
- Exempted Waqfs: Managed by individuals under judicial supervision, independent of the Ministry’s authority.
Management of Waqf Assets
Estimates of Waqfs in Occupied Palestine Since 1948[iv]:
Records from the Supreme Muslim Council’s budgets between 1923 and 1947 indicate that tithes constituted about 50% of the waqf revenues in Palestine. Approximately 10% of Arab village lands (or 7% of Palestine’s total area, excluding the Negev) were state-owned lands designated as irregular waqf. Another estimate suggests that 15% of Arab rural lands were waqf properties.
In cities, the area of valid waqf lands reached 100,000 dunams, while state-owned waqf lands (Miri) accounted for 12–18% of the total agricultural land (2.1 million dunams). Jewish sources estimate the actual waqf land area at 100,000 dunams, whereas researcher Grinovsky estimates it at 700,000 dunams.
Documented waqf lands in Palestine represent 16% of its total area, amounting to 178,677 dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 square meters). The waqf assets in different Palestinian regions can be summarized as follows:
Waqfs in the 1948 Territories
According to a study by the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Muslims in the 1948 territories (which constitute about 78% of historic Palestine) lost most of their waqfs[v]. Before 1948, there were over 3,361 mosques, shrines, and cemeteries[vi]. In 1922, the estimated income of the Supreme Muslim Council from waqfs reached 43,297 pounds, with agricultural waqf lands accounting for 13–15% of the total, in addition to family waqfs[vii]. Some estimates suggest that Islamic waqf lands constituted about 7% of the area within what is called “Israel,” approximately 100,000 dunams, managed by the “General Waqf Administration” under the Supreme Muslim Council[viii]. This council oversaw six waqf departments with 592 employees, ten religious schools and colleges, and several waqf-based institutions[ix]. The annual waqf revenue was estimated at 180,000 Israeli liras[x].
For example, in the old city of Akka, waqfs constituted 80–90% of the total properties, including Al-Jazzar Mosque, Al-Ahmadiyya School, the library, the Sharia court, and others, totaling 41 waqf sites, in addition to shrines and 38 Islamic cemeteries. The total registered waqf land in Akka reached 638 dunams[xi].
In Jaffa, one of Palestine’s oldest cities, waqfs constituted 33% of the city’s mosques by 1921. The waqf of the Sayyid Ali ibn Aleim Mosque included 28,400 dunams of fertile land in the districts of Jaffa, Tulkarm, and Jenin[xii]. Between 1948 and 1967, about 480 mosques and 400 cemeteries were demolished[xiii]. The most active waqfs in the 1948 territories were in Jaffa, Haifa, and Akka, each with notable endowments[xiv].
Waqfs in the West Bank
After the unification of the East and West Banks on December 1, 1948, and following the Zionist occupation, the Waqf Department in the West Bank and Jerusalem operated under Jordanian Waqf Law No. 25 of 1946. Even after the disengagement in 1988, the Jordanian Ministry of Waqfs continued supervising West Bank waqfs until the Palestinian National Authority took over in 1994[xv].
The Zionist occupation attempted to confiscate waqfs in the 1967 territories using laws such as the Absentee Property Law (Military Order No. 59 of 1967), which allowed the seizure of private properties, including waqfs. Military Order No. 1091 (January 20, 1984) amended this law, facilitating the confiscation of waqf lands under the pretext of “public benefit.” The occupation seized approximately 312,000 dunams of waqf land in the West Bank[xvi], including historically significant endowments[xvii].
Waqfs in the Gaza Strip
The Supreme Muslim Council also managed waqfs in Gaza, where 23% of agricultural tithes and 17% of rental income in 1922 were allocated to the Council’s activities. Notable waqfs in Gaza included the endowment of the village of Absan, valued at 300,000 Egyptian pounds, dedicated to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron[xviii].
By 1967, waqfs constituted about 10% of Gaza’s real estate and 15% of its agricultural land (28,500 dunams)[xix]. After the 1967 occupation, the Egyptian military governor officially supervised Gaza’s waqfs, maintaining 92 mosques with an annual budget of 50,000 Egyptian pounds (about $3,000) until the late 1960s[xx]. This continued until the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994.
Despite Gaza’s small area (365 km²), it contains over 8,804 dunams of waqf land, distributed as follows[xxi]:
The number of waqf properties in Gaza reaches 1,717, categorized as[xxii]:
In 2020, waqf revenues amounted to $1.2 million, allocated as follows:
– Religious affairs: $400,000
– Relief projects: $200,000
– Mosque maintenance: $300,000
– Development of waqf properties: $300,000 (through leasing, partnerships, etc.).
Prospects for the Experience
The Zionist occupation remains the primary obstacle to the development of the waqf sector in Palestine. It has confiscated most waqfs, especially in the 1948 territories, and seized historical endowments in Jerusalem, such as the Moroccan Quarter’s waqf. The most notable law used to confiscate Muslim properties is the Absentee Property Law (March 20, 1950), which enabled the seizure of mosques, agricultural lands, commercial properties, and heritage sites[xxiii], among other military orders enforcing de facto control.
Other challenges include the blockade on Gaza, periodic military assaults on the West Bank and Gaza, deliberate targeting of religious waqfs (especially mosques), and the deteriorating economic situation hindering waqf investments. Given these conditions, there is a pressing need to develop and rehabilitate waqf administration in both the West Bank and Gaza, diversifying financial models beyond traditional leasing (Hikr) and rental systems.
Copyright and Usage Notice:
All rights reserved. Any reproduction or use of any part of this report by photographic, electronic, or any other means of publication requires proper citation as follows: Strategic Waqf Report, Third Edition, International Institute of Islamic Waqf, 2025. The text may not be altered in any way, and no commercial use is permitted.