Women manages AP Wakf Institutions

2006
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 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.