International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no.

1 (2022): 55-74
© 2022 by The International Islamic University Malaysia

BRANDING WĀQF FOR SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT: A MARKETING APPROACH

Shafiu Ibrahim Abdullahi

Department of Economics, Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. (Email:

[email protected])

ABSTRACT

Recent years have seen discussions on the need to develop the managerial
architecture of wāqf to align it with modern realities. Awqāf are suffering
from a lack of funds to run their activities. The image of some awqāf has
been damaged by poor performance, historical neglect, and colonial past.
Efforts at redeveloping wāqf must not neglect organizational image
building. To achieve this, the use of modern marketing and communication
tools is inevitable. The focus of this paper, therefore, is not on defining wāqf
or describing its functions but on creating a good image of wāqf in the
public mind. The role of organization’s image in the public mind in helping
the organization achieve its mission has long been recognized by marketing
and communication scholars. Hence the research method followed for this
work is an intensive study of selected literature and a critical analysis of
their contents. The work also benefits from careful study of existing awqāf
operations. Thus, this work is conceptual in nature. It is observed that wāqf
shall provide the needed resources for dealing with long-term challenges
that require painstaking efforts going beyond political winds and short-term
business interests. These include supporting efforts at tackling
environmental challenges such as afforestation campaigns and green
financing.

JEL Classification: L31, L33, M3, P49

Keywords: Wāqf, Trust, Marketing, Advertising, Charities

Submitted: 10/11/2020 Accepted: 09/01/2022 Published: 28/06/2022

1. INTRODUCTION

The contributions of wāqf to development of Islāmic societies in all

facets of live cannot be denied when one is writing about wāqf
56 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

development in the modern world. During the Ottoman Empire,

awqāf (awqāf is plural of wqāf) contributed a significant percentage
of public works such as the building of schools, libraries, hospitals,
roads, and others. Today hundreds of thousands of awqāf are spread
across the Muslim world and beyond that; they are contributing to
development. According to Abdullah (2020), “The function of wāqf
institution is to contribute towards the provision of a social security
net to those falling within its vicinities. The value proposition of
wāqf lies in effectively cascading wealth and benefits of resources to
the neglected or comparatively disadvantaged sectors of an
economy.” A hadith (Sahih Muslim, 1255/3) reported by Abu
Hurairah, narrated that the Prophet (ṣal-Allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallam)
said: “When a man dies his acts come to an end, except three things:
ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge and pious offspring, who pray
for him.” One unique feature differentiating wāqf from all other
charities is the concept of sadaqat jāriah (perpetual charity). This
gives it an element of permanency, unlike the other charities that are
not continuous by nature. In today’s world, wāqf has been used to
eradicate poverty, in providing financial security, supplying basic
necessities, training and education of unskilled labor, propagating
Islām, creating employment, environmental protection, dispensing
various types of social benefits, developing infrastructure, promoting
charitable causes, preserving social justice, providing scholarships to
students, and empowering communities.
Wāqf remains one of the most important socio-economic
institutions in Islām (Yaacob, 2013). Wāqf combines the perpetuity
of spiritual and material reward for the benefactor and the
beneficiary (Abdullah, 2020). Wāqf is also called habs or sadaqat
jāriah. The wāqf scope and coverage is broader than Zakāt or any
other charity (Jahangir, Nagayev, and Saiti, 2020). This makes it
more important and the need to preserve it essential. According to
Laallam et al. (2020) modern wāqf administration suffers from
malfunction in the system workflow and poor recruitment drive.
Wāqf management, depending on its nature and needs, requires
professional experts such as engineers, contractors, media
professionals and investment management specialists. They observed
that this explains the gap between the wāqf management
requirements and the actual organizsation of the workers’ system.
Studies such as Laallam et al. (2020), Obaidullah and Shirazi (2017),
have criticized state control over wāqf which is linked with poor
performance and inefficiency of the sector. State control over awqāf
has entrenched corruption and underhand dealings in the sector.
 Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach 57

Today, in many Muslim countries, wāqf investments are not based on

sound scientific and objective foundations. But, they were also
limited by the self-financing method of the wāqf institution; awqāf
were not open to external funding through participation (Laallam, et
al., 2020). These have confounded the problem of awqāf and made
them stagnant. In Muslim countries, the wāqf sector must be
separated from the public bureaucratic culture of the past decades.
On the revival of wqāf, scholars in the Western world see the issue
differently, for example, Stibbard, Russell, and Bromley (2012)
noted that it was the emergence of ‘great wealth’ in Islāmic countries
that caused the revivalism being witnessed in the wāqf sector. Kuran
(2001), who in most of his writings was very critical of the Islāmic
economic movement, sees wāqf emergence as commitment device to
give property owners economic security in return for social services.
Wāqf also performs the function of a social financing tool.
The Islāmic social finance sector that comprises zakāt, awqāf and
Islāmic not-for-profit microfinance is described as fast becoming a
major component of mainstream Islāmic finance (Omar, 2017). From
the period of selective treatment in the beginning of the Islāmic
economic and finance movement, today Islāmic social finance has
attracted attention from both scholars and practitioners. Its potential
for developing the larger Islāmic society is enormous. In recent years
much discussion has emerged regarding the need to develop the
managerial architecture of wāqf in the Muslim world to make it align
with modern reality (Abdullah, 2020; Abdullahi, 2020; Jahangir et
al., 2020). Numerous awqāf are suffering from lack of funds to run
their activities (Laallam et al., 2020; Sulaiman et al., 2019). The link
between awqāf and sustainable development cannot be
overemphasized here. Sustainable development is “development that
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs” (Brundtland et al.,
1987). The famed sustainable development goals (SDGs) were
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September
2015, comprising 17 goals, 169 targets, and 300 indicators to be
achieved by 2030.
Private philanthropy is recognized as one of the major
sources of financing SDGs. Thus, the functions of wāqf support
efforts toward achieving some of the global sustainable development
goals. Just like sustainable development, wāqf goal is to meet human
development needs without harming the ecosystem. SDGs such as
poverty eradication, food security, good healthcare, quality
education, economic growth, inequality reduction, environmental
58 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

conservation have been the focal point of wāqf activities. Just like
sustainable development goals aimed at continuity, wāqf is a charity
that is sustainable; thus wāqf and SDGs share one major feature of
aspiring for something that is sustainable. Recent studies by
Abdullah (2018) and, Khan and Hassan (2019) have discussed how
wāqf and some sustainable development goals converge. But, the
focus of this work is on how to use marketing strategies to enhance
wāqf functions which as mentioned help to actualize some of the
sustainable development goals.
The image of awqāf today has been damaged by poor
performance, historical neglect and the colonial past. Efforts at
redeveloping wāqf must not neglect the image building process. The
focus of this paper, therefore, is not on defining wāqf or describing
its functions and legality, but on creating a good image of wāqf in the
public sphere. Hence, the rest of the paper will be devoted to
achieving that. The role of organizational image in the public mind in
helping that organization to achieve its mission has long been
recognized by marketing and communication scholars. This paper
observed that wāqf shall provide needed resources for dealing with
long-term challenges that require painstaking efforts going beyond
political motives and short-term business interests. These include
supporting efforts to tackle environmental challenges such as
afforestation campaigns and green financing. The research method
followed for the work is intensive study of selected literature and
critical analysis of their contents. The work also benefits from
careful study of the existing awqāf operations. Thus, the work is
conceptual in nature. The paper is divided into introduction,
literature review, approaches toward improving wāqf image and
conclusion sections.

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

According to Silk (2006), marketing is the process of planning and

executing the development, value, promotion and distribution of
products, services, and ideas to create mutually beneficial exchanges.
In marketing and communication, branding is very important as it
holds a strategic position in how a product or service is perceived by
the public. Marketing, generally, always focuses on the audience
perspectives. Kotler (2004) sees brand as a name, symbol, design or
combination of these, that identifies the maker or seller of a product
or service. Advertising helps in building a brand and positioning it in
the public mind. Organizations that succeeded in their area of
 Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach 59

business are great marketing organizations. Some marketing

researchers have viewed marketing communications as signals that
possess information content for stakeholders that can be used to
judge an organization (Shrivastava and Dawle, 2020; Boulding and
Kirmani, 1993). Advertising and publicity are potentially important
signals to audiences and play important roles in shaping the
corporate brand and organizational performance. Marketing
professionals bridge psychology, sociology and graphic design
principles in order to create a clearly defined message for their target
audiences. The message is the information intended for the audience
to know, created in a tone that appeals to their values (Wright, et al.,
2015). Marketers put target audiences at the core of their activities by
trying to ensure what is being offered meets the needs and
preferences of the target audience (Nadube and Didia, 2018; Fox and
Kotler, 1980). According to Hibbert and Horne (1996) and Ayyıldız,
Akmermer, and Akyüz (2017) many conservations non-profit
organizations are turning to marketing to increase the amount of
public financial support. Other branches of marketing such as cause
related marketing to have a positive role to play in boosting the
image of the organization undertaking them. According to
Varadarajan and Menon (1988) and Lee and Johnson (2019), cause-
related marketing represents the confluence of perspectives from
several specialized areas of inquiry such as marketing for nonprofit
organizations, the promotion mix, corporate philanthropy, corporate
social responsibility, fund-raising management, and public relations.
The literature on charitable giving is awash with a lot of
ideas on how to manage these organizations and the major sources of
getting funds. Yang, Brennan, and Wilkinson (2014) argued that
charity and society need each other; society needs charities to fulfill
the gap that neither private sector nor public can address, while
charities need society to exist and for their sustenance. More
importantly, charities rely on society to provide resources for their
sustainability and growth. Donors’ trust is considered central to
survival of these organizations (Torres-Moraga, Vásquez-Parraga
and Barra, 2010; Herzlinger, 1996). How such charitable
organizations can influence donor trust to maintain steady growth
has been extensively debated. According to Sargeant and Lee (2006),
trust is probably the only most influential tool for charities which can
not only attract new donors to charities but also retain their standing
donor base. Fukuyama (2009) defined trust as a function of social
networks, cultural ethics and collective values which can nurture
both prosperity and social cohesion. Trust is a social capital in itself.
60 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

It has positive and constructive effects on an organization such as

improving natural sociability among the organization members,
cutting transaction costs, and simplifying adaptive forms of esteem to
authorities (Kramer, 1999). But, when charities fail to maintain
public trust, they may face unfavorable consequences such as
decrease in donations, loss of image, shrunken self-sufficiency, and
finally downfall (Yang et al., 2014). According to empirical studies,
people's perception about charities is that they trust charities less
than in the previous decades; reasons for this include 'blurred
boundaries' (Populus, 2020; Gaskin, 1999) suggesting that large
public and private corporate organizations and big charities are
behaving alike. For example, charities have started to have business-
style orientation and format; there is serious competition among
charities in areas such as fundraising and in trying to de-market one
another that make charities move away from their traditional base.
According to Gaskin (1999), it is this 'blurred' boundary in the way
charities operate as well as unfavorable media reports that intensify
decline in trust in charities.
As with conventional nonprofit organizations, marketing is
seen as a strange tool to use in promoting charities. The belief is that
charities do not need promotion since they are not built to generate
profit. Charities in the western world have since realized the urgency
to use marketing and advertising to communicate their operations
and needs to the public. Most works in this area have not directly
treated the issue of marketing, branding and advertising of wqāf, but
some of the research matters they treated may have some indirect
relation to the issue. Hati and Idris (2014) have measured the impact
of customer perceptual reaction to the credibility of social enterprise
advertising. The study found that customers’ socioeconomic status
and religiosity have no significant influence on their intention to
channel their donations via Islāmic social enterprises. It is the social
enterprises’ advertising which significantly influences their support
intention. Kashif et al. (2018) examine the moderating role of brand
credibility within the customer-based brand equity model to
investigate donor perceived brand equity of charity brands in
Pakistan. The ‘results indicate that donor perceived brand
association, brand awareness and brand loyalty strongly relate to
perceived brand equity of charity brands. In a related paper, Rizal
and Amin (2017) empirically investigate the role of perceived ihsan,
Islāmic egalitarian attitude and Islāmic religiosity on cash wāqf
contribution. The result shows significant relationship between
perceived ihsan, Islāmic egalitarianism and Islāmic religiosity on
 Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach 61

cash wāqf contribution. Abdul Shukor et al. (2018) explore the

relationship between integrity, reputation, trust on awqāf institution
and intention to endow cash wqāf. The findings show that integrity
and reputation of awqāf institutions have direct impact on endowers’
trust on awqāf institution, which consequently lead to endowers’
intention to endow cash wāqf. A number of works have shown the
role of religiously embedded message on influencing advertising.
Ustaahmetoglu (2020) studied the influence of religious messages on
consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. His findings show that
the attitude and purchase intention toward advertisements with
religious messages is more likely to make purchase possible than
advertisements without religious messages. A paper by Alam, Mohd,
and Hisham (2011) provides further evidence on the role of religion
in influencing the consuming public.

3. SUGGESTED APPROACHES TO IMPROVING WĀQF

IMPACTS, IMAGE AND FINANCES

3.1 ON MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND BUILDING OF TRUST

Public relations (PR) are an integral part of marketing. PR is in the

forefront when it comes to positioning an organization to the media
and the larger public. PR development is one of the main areas of
weakness in the wāqf industry in the Muslim world. PR will help in
promoting or protecting a wāqf image or its offerings. In a nonprofit
sector such as wāqf, PR is the best available tool to further promote
its activities. Unlike in the case of for-profit organizations whose
motives will always be viewed from the angle of making profit and
self-interest, charities attract media firms. Media can help charities
publicize their activities and accomplishments, but at the same time,
where they detect any ill practice, they may play a part in ruining the
trustworthiness of an organization. Story prepared by wāqf means for
PR purpose shall be unique and imaginative. It shall be more than
just issuing press releases. It requires a bit of creativity in the
message in order to better capture public attention. Awqāf shall fully
utilize what is made available by the PR program to tell their stories
to the world before someone else does it for them in unfavorable
manner. Wāqf can use its special attribute of being a pillar of Islāmic
society and its economy in the previous generations to sell its brand
image much faster in today’s world. Additionally, wāqf shall use
annual reports, brochures, articles, newsletters, audovisuals and
internet to pass their messages across. These channels have already
62 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

been put to good use by some awqāf around the Muslim world.
Strategic communication plays an important role in how donors
perceive the charity organization’s pledge and how they respond to
it. Wāqf shall fully utilize special Islāmic events such as annual
Ramadhan period, Hajj period, and others. to promote their activities.
They can also strengthen partnership with existing Islāmic banks and
other Islāmic organisations in achieving their goals. Wāqf institutions
shall continue to organize annual conferences on awqāf and
charitable giving and invite notable scholars to present papers and
speeches. The media shall be invited as well to cover the events. On
ways of choosing to deploy modern marketing communication or
not, a wāqf has many choices available to it. A wāqf, which is
administrably satisfied with what its founder provides to it for
running its activities, may not need to advertise or adopt any
marketing scheme. Old awqāf that stick with traditional method of
gathering charities for their social causes can continue to use
mosques and Islāmic gatherings as channels for passing the desired
messages across.
One important way of influencing potential donors to
contribute to wāqf is through communicating the successes of the
organization to the public. Communicating past successes has been
recognized as an effective way of attracting donations. Another way
to raise funds is by emphasizing the important goals the wāqf wants
to accomplish in the future. Thus, awqāf shall focus their advertising
messages on successes achieved so far and future goals. In order to
succeed in carrying out their functions awqāf must build their brand
image. A strong relationship exists between strong brand image and
organizational effectiveness. An efficient and effective organisation,
in general, has strong brand image. Abdullahi (2020) listed what a
wāqf shall do in relation to building it brand image; “it must be seen
for what it is, source of support for the Islāmic society. Wāqf benefits
must also be clear for everyone to see, i.e., both the donor and the
beneficiary. Wāqf must stand for all the values cherished by Islām.
Looking at the history of wāqf that goes back into millennia, it
symbolized Islāmic culture. The public image represent by wāqf
shall be that of empathy, kindness and generosity. Wāqf shall move
with the modern world, change it (sic) management to confirm with
the needs of the time.” Awqāf shall maintain the highest corporate
governance standards as they try to gain the hard-earned donors’
trust. No individuals will donate their hard-earned wealth to a wāqf
when they distrust the capability and credibility its fund managers.
 Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach 63

FIGURE 1
Wāqf Communication Strategy

Wāqf options regarding adoptation of

marketing communication

Adopt marketing Not adopt

communication/external relations marketing
communication

Modern marketing
methods Traditional Become
methods such satisfied
as via with the
mosques and wāqf
Promotion
Media Islāmic founder
/ personal
gatherings donations
selling

Conventional Social
media media

Source: author’s conceptualization,

Note: conventional media are the mainstream media such as TV, Radio,
Newspapers, Magazines, etc.

Wāqf can perfectly serve the need of modern sharīʿah

compliance. Corporations are allocating resources for corporate
social responsibility (CSR) programs. Thus, modern CSR programs
shall be absorbed into the concept of modern wāqf in the Muslim
world. Wāqf shall serve as a medium through which sharia compliant
firms execute their corporate social responsibility. Hence, awqāf
shall get in contact with sharīʿah compliant firms in order to solicit
donations in the form of CSR donations. Because of its religious and
historical roots, awqāf have better chance of getting public trust than
conventional charities such as the ones established as
nongovernmental organizations (NGO) or the usual small and
discontinuous Sadaqat across the Islāmic world. These peculiarities
shall be factored in by mangers of awqāf in the Islāmic world. Of
note here are the prominent positions and physical locations
occupied by awqāf; many of these awqāf are located in strategic
64 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

places in Muslim communities, making them invaluable assets. In

terms of rewards in the hereafter, both wāqf and the annual zakāt are
high rewarding acts of Ibadah, despite the fact that one is voluntary
and the other involuntary. Table 1 shows how wāqf compares with
other ways Muslims spend their wealth. In terms of continuity feature
of the act of Ibadah, wāqf is acknowledged as continuous charity
when it is compared to zakāt that is given to predetermined people
and causes. But, when it is compared to spending money on worldly
things, even though the worldly spending may be halal, these worldly
spending are less rewarding than charities. Giving for charitable
causes holds a prominent position in Islāmic society.

TABLE 1
Conceptualization of Wāqf and Zakāt Charities

Degree of continuity
Low High
Perceived level of High Zakāt Wāqf
reward in the hereafter Low Money meant for Money meant for
consumption investment
Source: author’s conceptualization

Awqāf shall hold trust issues with the importance they

deserve in order for them to succeed. The more awqāf identify and
understand their different audiences, the greater their success in
creating good funding campaign brand image. By focusing on causes
that resonate with the existing concerns of large numbers of people at
all income levels, and by creating structured ways for these people to
connect where none had previously existed, awqāf will improve their
prospects with potential donors. How wāqf deliver social benefits
while operating sustainably is a good question demanding
stakeholder attention. Effective marketing and sustainability funding
can help them do that. Marketing, when appropriately employed,
ensures that wāqf mangers understand the environment they are
dealing with and build plan templates that will help them achieve
their objectives. Researchers and practitioners in wāqf may not like
to talk about “marketing” or “brand management” as being of social
benefit and a tool to achieve their mission. Generally, the public is
usually suspicious about huge marketing and administrative
expenses; the more an organization is seen trying to raise public
funds using marketing and advertising, the more the organization
risks losing support because of the amount they are seen to be
 Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach 65

spending on these activities. In as much as managing wāqf

distribution and execution of contributors will is important,
managing how to sustain the organization through continued
sourcing of donations is just as important. This is where marketing
and advertising come in as the right tools for achieving that goal.
Reputation is crucial for voluntary sector organizations such as
awqāf to be able to attract donors. Awqāf with poor reputation cannot
expect people to keep donating to their causes. But despite these
mentioned benefits, awqāf shall be careful with using too much
commercialization as the donor public may feel they are being forced
to do what may not be in their best interest.
Trust is associated with facilitating efficient business
transactions, increasing customer satisfaction, and enhancing
employee motivation and commitment; because of these, wāqf shall
be guided by the knowledge that they are accountable for their
actions and inactions. Unlike in the secular environment,
accountability under an Islāmic environment in which wāqf is part of
extends to the hereafter, where all deeds in this world will be
accounted for by those responsible for them before Allāh ʿazza wa
jalla. Subsequently, wāqf management will account for the trust
given to them before Allāh ʿazza wa jalla on the Day of Judgment.
Because of these, the need and level of accountability under wāqf is
far superior to what is obtainable under conventional charities where
accountability stops in this world. Under the secular setting, if the
usurper of wāqf fund is able to escape judgment in this world that is
all there is to it. But under the Islāmic setting, even after one may
have escaped judgment here, one cannot escape judgment in the
hereafter. Consideration and reality such as that of accountability in
the hereafter makes it necessary to develop a unique model to cater
for awqāf different from what obtains in secular charities. The major
point of departure between awqāf and secular charity is the belief in
Allāh ʿazza wa jalla which led one (who must be a Muslim) to be
conscious of the hereafter. These also make issues of materialism
and commercialism less of concern in managing awqāf than in
conventional secular charities. The fact that the wāqf management
boards include sharīʿah scholars helps reduces the fear of awqāf
departing from their traditional Islāmic roots. Donors feel it easier to
contribute to charities they are familiar with than those unfamiliar to
them. Thus, as a brand, wāqf shall do whatever is necessary to
increase their closeness to potential donors. The more familiar a
charity is to donors, the more trustworthy and convenient the charity
is to them.
66 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

3.2 ON SETTING TARGETS AND PRIORITIES

Since Muslims are enjoined to spend their wealth in charity, awqāf

must look at the available ways to attract donations to their causes.
But, this as earlier mentioned is seen as unconventional because
awqāf are known to depend on the initial bequest of the founder. The
ways of getting donations to assist wāqf are as varied as the forms of
wāqf available. Many needs compete for attention of a Muslim’s
wealth apart from spending on charities. For example, Muslims
spend their surplus wealth on purchasing consumer goods, leisure,
investment in businesses, Sadaqat, and so forth. Then how does a
wāqf target those Muslims’ money to ensure that Muslim spend more
on endowments than is currently obtainable. Figure 2 shows a
number of ways for Muslims to allocate their surplus wealth.
In Islām taqwā (the fear of God) is the beginning and root of
the actions of any pious Muslim. Thus, taqwā shall be the main
barometer in prioritizing wāqf donation generation from various
sources available. The companions of the Prophet and the
generations that followed them are noted for their generosity in
contributing to charitable causes and for their taqwā Today’s
Muslims cannot do better than following after them in establishing
endowments and giving generously in charity. The more taqwā a
Muslim is blessed with the more likely for him or her to donate to
charitable courses. For example, a rich and religious Muslim is
expected to donate more than a poor and less religious Muslim or
even a rich but less religious Muslim.
 FIGURE 2
Ways a Muslim Allocates His Wealth

Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach

Muslim Wealth Allocation

Business Charitable Non Business/

causes Personal

Personal Investment Involuntary Voluntary Consumer Leisure/

business Charity Charity Goods Services

Shares Ṣukūk Zakāt Zakātulfitr Wqāf Casual Durable

Non- Travel/ Learning
Small Big Sadaqat durable tourism

Source: author’s conceptualization

67
68 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

Table 2 shows how wāqf shall prioritize generation of

charitable funds, taking into consideration various ways of allocating
wealth and level of taqwā of the Muslim populace. The table is based
on Muslim level of taqwā and the likely outlets through which
wealthy Muslims allocate their wealth; these outlets can also be
called sources of wāqf funds. Sources of wāqf funds include wealth
means for any kind of charity not necessarily wqāf, tax-exempted
investments such as some kind of small-scale businesses and
startups, and the generality of investments that attract government
taxes. It shall be noted that the table is not directing awqāf to
forcefully collect donations from people, but it is only nudging
awqāf in directions where they shall focus their attention when
generating funds. It shows ranking of priorities based on the ease of
generating wāqf funds and level of taqwā; here cell (1) is the most
attractive in terms of the presumed softness of generating wāqf
charity through the means indicate against it, and cell (9) is the most
difficult to generate wāqf funds because of combination of low
taqwā and deduction of tax from the wealth. Wāqf shall be seen as a
system that interacts continuously with its actual and potential
donors; in the system; the only factors making the relation
sustainable are trust and fear of God.

TABLE 2
Conceptualization of Level of Taqwā of Donors

Different Levels of Taqwā level of potential Donor

Major outlets High Moderate Low
through which Taxable Investments (6) (7) (9)
potential Investments exempted from
donors tax (2) (5) (8)
allocate their Wealth means for various
wealth types of charity (1) (3) (4)
Source: author’s conceptualization

The growth of marketing communications and the growing

researches in marketing have reflected the new emphasis on effective
planning and appropriate policy implementation. These initiatives
shall be extended into other areas of managing wāqf in order to
achieve organizational harmony and effectiveness. The wāqf
management must prioritize among the various mediums available
through which it communicates with its stakeholding community. On
the appropriate channels of communicating (actualizing) the need to
 Branding Wāqf for Sustainable Development: A Marketing Approach 69

support wāqf development activities, these channels may be grouped

into three categories: marketing/advertising, religious
orientation/education, and politico-legislative. Table 3 provides
possible directions on how that can be achieved.

TABLE 3
Perceived Levels of Taqwā

Perceived Taqwā level

High (H) Moderate (M) Low (L)
Advertising/ A
Channels of
Marketing (A)
creating
Religious R
consciousness
orientation/
on the need to
education (R)
contribute to
wqāf Politico- P
religious/
legislative (P)
Source: author’s conceptualization

With reference to Table 3, from the angle of who/what to

target first; all the three named channels focus on the cell ‘low’ (L),
based on the presumed criteria of who needs the message more in
order to be able to decide; followed by ‘medium’ (M) cell and finally
‘High’ (H). This is because a low taqwā Muslim is the one that first
needs to be rescued. But, from the point of view of effectiveness,
efficiency and maybe urgency or need for each channel/method by
wqāf, the focus of marketing/advertising use shall be on the high
taqwā Muslim group, in order to bring their attention to the existence
of a particular wāqf activity. But, the use of politico-legislative
(which includes use of pressure groups and changes in legislation)
shall focus on the moderate taqwā Muslim group, in order to give
them the necessary political and legislative incentives to donate to
wqāf; while religious education shall focus on low taqwā Muslims to
teach them first about the Islamic teaching pertaining to wqāf. The
assumption here regarding taqwā is that religiously knowledgeable
Muslims have more taqwā than less religiously knowledgeable
Muslims; though this may not always hold true. Looking at wāqf as a
system, this example is not difficult to practise.
70 International Journal of Economics, Management and Accounting 30, no. 1 (2022)

4. CONCLUSION

Trust is the magnet that attracts public admiration for any

organization; awqāf shall attract it wherever possible. Wqāf, no
matter where it is located, shall be driven by the imperative to meet
human needs, alleviate suffering, and tackle the obstacles to human
development and progress. It can be a path-breaking, supporting
innovation and education, field building, first movers and fast
movers. It shall provide needed resources for long-term challenges
that require painstaking efforts that go beyond political whims and
short-term business interests. These include support for efforts to
tackle environmental challenges such as afforestation campaigns and
green financing. Effective marketing programs for awqāf require
planning, just like in any serious endeavor. The responsibility for
marketing and external communication planning shall fall to either a
subgroup of the endowment, or the management as a whole. But,
awqāf shall be intentional about creating a marketing plan as a part
of their overall fund generation plan.

5. AREAS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

Empirical works shall be conducted to gauge the opinion of Muslims

regarding the use of marketing and advertising to promote wāqf
image and causes. This is necessary because it will provide good
background, motivation and direction for the overall efforts to
introduce modern marketing tools to wāqf management. Specific
studies (case studies) are needed to measure effectiveness of the
various tools and mediums to be used in boosting the image of wqāf.

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