SINGAPORE - Over $4.9 million of funds from the Muslim community will be distributed to mosques, Muslim organisations, madrasahs and other beneficiaries this year.
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis) said on Saturday (June 6) that it would be disbursing $4,917,943 from the income of Muis-managed wakafs, about 1 per cent more than last year.
Of this amount, $3,646,178 will be channelled to local beneficiaries.
Traditionally, a wakaf is defined as the permanent dedication by a Muslim of any property for any purpose defined by Muslim law as religious and charitable, but the concept has evolved to be similar to a trust fund, where money is invested and the returns are used to help the community.
Muis currently looks after 91 wakafs, with a total asset value of more than $800 million.
Mosques, madrasahs and Muslim organisations will be receiving more as compared to last year.
Muis has also created a new Mosque Asatizah Development Fund that can be tapped by asatizah (Islamic religious teachers) employed by the mosques to professionalise, upskill and upgrade themselves.
This is in line with the Asatizah Workforce Development Plan that was launched during the Muis Work Plan Seminar 2020.
A total of $200,000 of the $1,810,477 allocated to mosques will go towards this fund.
Muis chief executive Esa Mamood said that the asatizah in mosques play an instrumental role in providing religious knowledge and guidance, and must continue to be equipped with skills to respond to contemporary challenges.
"Dedicating wakaf funds to support our asatizah will allow these efforts to be sustained over the long term, and will strengthen our mosques in supporting the religious life of the community," he said.
The rest of the funds going towards mosques will go towards their operational needs as well as upgrading and renovation works.
Masjid Khalid, Masjid Khadijah and Masjid Abdul Gafoor are among the mosques that will receive support for their upgrading and renovation.
A total of $535,158 will be given to 29 Muslim organisations here such as 4PM, Casa Raudha, Pertapis Children Home and United Indian Muslim Association, a 38 per cent increase from last year.
This is to support the various social needs of the Muslim community, given the impact of the Covid-19 situation.
Six full-time madrasahs and 38 part-time madrasahs at mosques will be receiving $476,193, including proceeds from Wakaf Ilmu, a wakaf created for the benefit of Islamic religious education in Singapore.
This is 18 per cent more than 2019, and is meant to support madrasah programmes and initiatives to develop future religious leaders for Singapore, said Muis.
"Just as how the wakaf that has been established by our pioneers in the community continues to support a range of beneficiaries today, more needs to be done to ensure that the community remains resilient in fulfilling its religious needs even in times of crisis in future," said Muis.
Muis will be establishing Wakaf Masyarakat Singapura (Singapore Community Wakaf) to financially support its religious institutions, asatizah development and community programmes, as announced by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Masagos Zulkifli at his Virtual Hari Raya Get-Together 2020 on Friday.
