Problems, Solutions and Strategies Priority for Waqf in Indonesia

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1.IntroductionWaqf is the waqif legal act functioning to separate and/or to give up some of their wealth permanently or for a specified period of time for religious purposes and/or for public welfare in accordance with Sharia Act (Act No. 41, 2004 on Waqf).Wadjdy and Mursyid (2007), waqf law is jaiz, and even the majority of Syafi'iyyah consider it as sunnah. Their references are: firstly, surah Ali Imran: 92 in the Holy Qur'an, SWT says: By no means shall ye attain rightenousness unless ye give (freely)of that which ye love: and whatever ye give, knoweth it well. This verse advises to give charity; and because waqf is a form of charity, it follows of the charity law, it is sunnah. Secondly, based on the hadits of prophet Muhammad SAW; Anas bin Malik says, When this verse was revealed to Muhammad SAW, Abu Thalhah says Indeed, asks us to give out some of our wealth, and Rasullullah, be a witness for me that I give my land to the Almighty Allah And then Muhammad SAW says Give it to your relatives, Hasan bin Tsabit and Ubay bin KaabWaqf has played the role to facilitate kinds of either religious or social activities, such as places for worship, for travelers, for science, for schools, for scientific papers making, for water supply and for the needs. At the time of Bani Umayah and Bani Abasiah, waqf s role was not only to build places of wworship or of education, but also it provided the operational cost for knowledge, for library, for education, for scholarship, for teachers' and lecturers' welfare and for other educational staff. This shows the significant role of waqf for people's needs in facilitating the religious, social and academic activities (Cizakca, 1998;Muzarie, 2010; Ahmed, 2007; Wafa, 2010 ; Salarzehi et al, 2010).The Indonesian waqf is regulated under the Law No. 41/2004 on Waqf and was signed by the Indonesian president on October 27, 2004. It is also published in the State Gazette of the Indonesian Republic No. 159/2004 and in the additional State Gazette of the Indonesian Republic No. 4459. Besides enhancing the existing waqf , this new waqf Law also regulates new problems: the management of waqf property must be productive and the use of it must be clearly stated, such as for the poor, for the new Indonesian waqf establishment, for the financial waqf management and for other needs in accordance with the developments. However, the waqf Law No. 41/2004 has no government regulation on its operation.Fathurrohman (2012) states even though the government regulation has already been equipped with some its implementing regulations, including the Islamic Law compilation, violations still occur, such as less understanding or economic driven causes. Less knowledge on waqf indicates that the government regulation is not sufficiently socialized, leading to the uncontrollable waqf implementation. In addition, the problems also lies on the waqf management. The main problems in this management is the financial constraints as well as the human resources or Nazhir who handle the waqf. They have less knowledge on waqf law. Meanwhile, there are still few Indonesian people who are willing to give away their productive land in the form of waqf. Even though it occurs, the problems lays on the financial constraint to manage the waqf and this problems should be solved.Hasanah (2012) points out that there are some ways to solve the waqf problems. Firstly, people must be provided with proper and sufficient information on waqf, such as terms, conditions and waqf s purpose. Secondly, people should be provided with the knowledge of waqf law. Thirdly, there should be qualified, hired human resources or nazhir to manage the waqf institutionssIf it is assumed that the middle-class of Muslim people are ten million people and they do the annual charity in term of waqf as much as Rp. 50,000, there will be 500 billions rupiahs in total. The Indonesian waqf agency claims that in 2012 there have been 566 millions rupiahs in total for the development and the management of waqf, although the obtained waqf is still far from the expected target, being only 1%. …