Waqf for Community Welfare: Integrating Utilization, Governance Con-straints, and Strategic Optimization

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Authors

  • Raisya Septiani Ramadhan Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml
  • Haifa Syahla Zahira Aqila Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40198, Indonesia image/svg+xml
  • Dini Dwi Handayani Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml
  • Liya Setiawati Department of Management, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia image/svg+xml

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69725/jies.v2i3.378

Keywords:

Waqf, Community Welfare, Islamic Social Finance, Productive Waqf, Maqashid al-Shariah

Abstract

Purpose – This research investigates waqf as an instrument of Islamic social finance aimed at improving community welfare by evaluating its application in key social sectors, identifying institutional and managerial barriers that impede its efficacy, and developing strategies to enhance waqf administration and socioeconomic outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative descriptive-analytical framework is employed utilizing library investigation. Data are sourced from peer-reviewed research, academic publications, regulatory materials, and institutional documents. The information is scrutinized using document analysis, qualitative content analysis, thematic analysis, and source triangulation to integrate patterns of utilization, constraints, and enhancement strategies.

Findings – Waqf enhances societal well-being through education, healthcare, social assistance, and economic empowerment. Its efficacy is hindered by insufficient waqf literacy, inadequate nazhir proficiency, weak transparency and accountability, underproductive assets, and a lack of comprehensive digital integration. Enhancing optimization necessitates heightened public literacy, more professional nazhir, stronger accountability, responsible digital transformation, effective asset creation, and organized stakeholder cooperation.

Originality/value – This investigation consolidates waqf utilization, governance challenges, and optimization methodologies into a cohesive welfare-conversion framework rooted in maqashid al-Shariah. It shifts emphasis from the nominal capabilities of assets to the institutional procedures that transmute bestowed resources into lasting social and economic worth.

 

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Author Biographies

  • Raisya Septiani Ramadhan, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Raisya Septiani Ramadhan is an undergraduate researcher affiliated with the Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her research interests focus on Islamic accounting, waqf management, Islamic social finance, and the ethical dimensions of contemporary Islamic economic transactions. She is particularly interested in how waqf instruments—including productive waqf and cash waqf—can be evaluated through the maqashid al-Shariah framework, and how classical concepts such as hifz al-mal (preservation of wealth), hifz al-nafs (preservation of life), and maslahah (public interest) can be operationalized to assess the contribution of waqf to community welfare. Her current research examines the integration of waqf utilization, governance constraints, and strategic optimization within a unified welfare-conversion framework.

  • Haifa Syahla Zahira Aqila, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40198, Indonesia

    Haifa Syahla Zahira Aqila is an undergraduate researcher affiliated with the Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her academic interests include Islamic accounting, waqf governance, digital financial literacy, and the application of Islamic social finance principles in contemporary community-based practices. Her research emphasizes the importance of transparency, nazhir competency, and prudent asset management in both formal and informal waqf institutions, particularly in the rapidly evolving landscape of Islamic social finance in Indonesia. She is also interested in how digital transformation reshapes waqf mobilization and governance in Muslim-majority contexts.

  • Dini Dwi Handayani, Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Dini Dwi Handayani is an undergraduate researcher affiliated with the Department of Accounting, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her research focuses on auditing, Shariah compliance assessment, accountability in Islamic social finance, and the protection of beneficiaries in waqf-based programs. She is particularly interested in how Shariah supervisory mechanisms and regulatory frameworks can safeguard waqf assets against underutilization and strengthen the institutional capacity of nazhir in managing endowed resources for sustainable community welfare. Her academic work also explores the role of transparency and reporting standards in enhancing public trust in waqf institutions.

  • Liya Setiawati, Department of Management, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java 40623, Indonesia

    Liya Setiawati, S.Sy., M.M., is a lecturer affiliated with the Department of Management, STIE Gema Widya Bangsa, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Her research interests encompass Islamic management, financial inclusion, digital economy, and the socio-economic dimensions of Sharia-compliant business practices. She has a particular interest in the development of ethical and inclusive financial ecosystems that align with maqashid al-Shariah—especially hifz al-mal (preservation of wealth) and hifz al-nafs (preservation of life)—in the context of waqf-based community empowerment and the digital transformation of Islamic social finance. As a supervising lecturer, she has guided numerous student research projects on Islamic economics, waqf management, and Sharia-compliant financial practices.

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Published

2025-12-10

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 3 (2025): December

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Copyright (c) 2025 Raisya Septiani Ramadhan, Haifa Syahla Zahira Aqila, Dini Dwi Handayani, Liya Setiawati (Author)

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Journal International Economic Sharia (JIES) © 2024 by Inovasi Analisis Data is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

How to Cite

Ramadhan, R. S., Aqila, H. S. Z., Handayani, D. D. ., & Setiawati, L. . (2025). Waqf for Community Welfare: Integrating Utilization, Governance Con-straints, and Strategic Optimization. Journal International Economic Sharia, 2(3), 185-197. https://doi.org/10.69725/jies.v2i3.378
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