Wakf Board for Shias not likely

Separation may create rift, feels state

The Telangana State government is of the opinion that it would not possible for it to constitute a separate Wakf Board for Shia Muslims to look after affairs of Wakf Institutions.

The government feels that the number of Shia institution does not fit the parameters of the Wakf Act for it to create a separate Board.

The issue came to fore after the Hyderabad High Court recently directed the TS government to consider a representation by Anjuman-E-Alavi Shia Imamia Ithna Ashari (Akhbari) for constitution of a separate Board within six weeks.

Along with technical issues, the government feels that any attempts to create a separate Shia Wakf Board may create a rift between Shia and Sunni Muslims in the state, especially in the capital.

The Shia community had been claiming that over 33 per cent of Wakf properties in TS, particularly Ashoorkhanas, belongs to the community. The Wakf Act mandates constitution of a separate Wakf Board for Shias wherever 15 per cent of total Wakf properties in a state belong to the Shia community.

Moulana Waheduddin Hyder, a Shia elder who adheres to the Akhbari sect of the community, said that there are 11,056 Ashoorkhanas in the state. The number by itself constitutes 33 per cent of Wakf properties, he said.

Sunni Muslims counter this claim, saying that only about 33 per cent of these Ashoorkhanas are under the control of Shia Muslims. They say that a majority of these Ashoorkhanas are managed by mutawallis who are Sunni Muslims.

Pointing out that Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have separate Wakf Boards for Shia Muslims, Moulana Hyder says that is the responsibility of the TS government to constitute a separate Board for the upkeep of these Ashoorkhana.

A separate Wakf Board would give the community to maintain the Wakf institutions as per the rituals followed by the community, he said.

According to Telangana State Wakf Board chief executive officer Mohammed Asadullah, as per Wakf records, there are 38,929 Wakf institutions in the state, of which only 183 institutions belong to Shia Muslims.

This calculates to less than one per cent of the total Wakf institutions in the state.