DR HENDRI TANJUNG
‘What is your nationality?’ That was the question that opened a conversation with a professional who was sitting in seat 20K, right next to the seat the author was sitting in, 20J, on a flight from Jakarta to Doha.
‘I am American’. Bob Jillmore said he was returning from Indonesia. Finally, the author found out that his daughter was an Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumnus who was currently serving in Indonesia, specifically at the University of Indonesia.
Interested in MIT, I asked him about MIT’s endowment fund, which amounted to more than ten million dollars. Jillmore said that this was normal. There was even one person who donated more than one million dollars. The patterns used to collect donations are through MIT alumni. On average, MIT alumni donate one thousand dollars a year. They are taught that their success in their careers cannot be separated from the role of the university where they studied, that is, MIT. It is stressed to the alumni that in order to not only maintain, but indeed to increase, the credibility of MIT, a certain amount of funding was continuously needed.
Waqf practices in the West It seems that the Western practice of waqf, known as endowment funds, is becoming a trend at almost all large private universities in America. I further enquired, ‘Why aren’t government campuses (public universities) better in America than private campuses?’
Jillmore said that these private campuses were able to bring in the best professors in the world from the endowment funds, as well as selecting the best students. So, two forces meet: the best lecturers engage the best students.
Another format is to partner with well-resourced individuals and enterprises to build campus facilities and infrastructure and attach their names to those facilities.
He cited the example of the Poverty Action Lab (PAL), a global research centre working to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is informed by scientific evidence. The lab was renamed the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) in honour of the late Abdul Latif Jameel, a pioneering entrepreneur, who founded a diversified business enterprise which operates in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.
This method is now being adopted by educational institutions in Indonesia. If a building is established on someone’s endowment, that person’s name will be attached to the structure. This ties in with one of the aims of waqf which is to ensure that educational institutions can be financially independent.
Now, imagine if this waqf practice occurred more widely in Indonesia. Indonesia would have quality, authoritative and respected educational institutions. And that is one of the missions of the Indonesian Waqf Board. Indonesian Waqf Board (BWI)
BWI is a body established according to the mandate of Law Number 41 of 2004, which governs waqf. BWI was formed in 2007, with Professor Dr K H Tolhah Hassan as its first chairman. BWI members are appointed by decree of the President of the Republic of Indonesia for a term of three years.
One of the duties of BWI is to appoint nazirs (administrators of waqf) and to provide guidance to them in managing and developing waqf assets. Since 2007 BWI has issued more than 400 cash waqf nazirs throughout Indonesia. Among them are the state-owned legal entity (BHMN) universities.
As one of the efforts to foster cash waqf nazir at universities, BWI introduced the Cash Waqf Link Sukuk (CWLS) instrument to BHMN universities. Alhamdulillah, as of April 30, 2024, theamount of waqf money invested in CWLS by BWI amounted to 857 billion rupiah. This cash is the endowment funds of several universities which is invested in CWLS instruments. Looking at this phenomenon, it can be ascertained that the world of education in Indonesia is heading towards financial freedom. The results of this cash waqf investment are used to provide scholarships, establish laboratories, and educational advancement at these institutions.
Cash Waqf Linked Sukuk Cash Waqf Linked Sukuk (CWLS) is a form of social investment in Indonesia where cash waqf collected by shariah-compliant financial institutions is managed and placed in state sukuk or State Shariah Securities (SBSN) instruments issued by the Ministry of Finance. The CWLS instrument combines three different sectors: capital markets, social sector, and government, and provides a benchmark product that offers innovative waqf options in the future.
The CWLS dividends can be used for various sectors, including education, health, religious and production such as agriculture and plantations. CWLS as a shariah financial instrument was first launched on October 14, 2018 at the 2018 IMF-World Bank Annual Meeting in Nusa Dua Bali. CWLS has proven to be an attractive investment alternative.
IPB Cash Waqf
An example of a university that invests its waqf in CWLS is Institut Pertanian Bogor (IPB), a staterun agricultural university based in the regency of Bogor. Through BWI, IPB – also known as the Bogor Agricultural University – places its endowment fund of 200 billion for Sukuk investment. With a yield of around five percent, IPB will receive a profit share of ten billion rupiah per year. IPB then uses these funds for scholarships for several IPB students. Apart from placing these waqf funds, IPB is also developing waqf projects such as the water station, IPB Memorial Park – a cemetery for the IPB extended family, insurance waqf, and a productive rice field waqf.
From the practice of cash waqf it is clear that BWI, as the waqf authority, really pays attention to the development of education by advancing waqf. If more people can enjoy education up to university level, it means that more people are able to contribute to a developmental agenda and more people can be lifted out of poverty. This is because there is a very strong correlation between ignorance and poverty. Therefore, let’s develop waqf for the advancement of education
For further information visit www.awqafsa.org.za Dr Hendri Tanjung is an associate professor at Ibn Khaldun University in Bogor, Indonesia. He has also been servings as a member of the Indonesia Waqf Board since 2017.
Published in newspapers in South Africa
Sumber : https://muslimviews.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MV-202407-Jul-2024.pdf hal 17