An empirical investigation into the accounting, accountability and effectiveness of WAQF management in the State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs) in Malaysia

Waqf and its management in Malaysia have been very much neglected by the relevant authorities for a relatively long period of time. In Malaysia, waqf is managed by State Islamic Religious Councils (SIRCs), which is the sole trustees for waqf resources. The emergence of Islamic economics and the pressing demands for greater countability and better performance in the public sector organisations provided an impetus for the waqf revival in Malaysia. Thus this study empirically investigated the accounting, accountability and effectiveness of the waqf management in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey examining the current practices of the principal management activities including strategic planning, budgeting and budgetary control, performance measurement and financial reporting was distributed to thirteen SIRCs and two semi-autonomous baytulmal institutions, one in Sabah and the other in Sarawak. Furthermore, a series of semi-structured interviews was conducted on the senior and operational officers of SIRCs/baytulmal institutions, the Department of Awqaf, Zakah and Hajj (JAWHAR), the Malaysia Waqf Foundation (MWF) and the National Audit Department (NAD). Essentially, the study revealed a number of noticeable findings with regard to the principal management activities in SIRCs/baytulmal institutions. Firstly, budgeting in SIRCs/baytulmal institutions appeared to function mainly as planning and control tools. The strict approach to budgetary control in these organisations was to ensure the adherence of spending to the budgets while the efficiency and effectiveness of resource consumption were less emphasised. Delegation of authority and responsibility to operational managers was restricted to budgetary control. Secondly, there were evidences of conspicuous discrepancies in the financial reporting practice. This may have been attributed by the absence of specific accounting framework for Islamic assets and funds held by SIRCs/baytulmal institutions. The financial reporting practice in these organisations had less focused on the stewardship/accountability dimension expected of the public sector and non-profit organisations. Thirdly, performance measurement in SIRCs/baytulmal institutions appeared to be focusing on enhancing the administrative capacity of the organisations. Fourthly, the existence of strategic planning in SIRCs/baytulmal institutions was very limited and mainly conditioned on external requirements. Finally, the study also revealed the presence of inherent challenges in the waqf management in SIRCs/baytulmal institutions, namely, financial inadequacy, shortages of manpower, and limited administrative capacity. The present practice of the principal management activities and the inherent challenges had a profound impact on the extent of accountability and effectiveness of the waqf management in Malaysia