Waqf is one of the teachings of Islam that concerns social life in the context of ijtima’iyah worship. Until now, waqf has played an important role in the improvement of the welfare of the people both spiritually and materially. In the midst of the social problems of the Indonesian people and the demands of economic welfare, the existence of waqf is very important. Kahf (2003) reports that, in 1800, waqf land covered most of the land in Egypt, Algeria, Turkey, and Palestine. The current use of waqf can be realized in the form of financing services needed for the general public, including mosques, schools, hospitals, and other institutions that have a role in poverty alleviation and environmental protection.

At this time, the understanding of productive waqf is still very weak. This is indicated by the lack of support from financial institutions, of socialization to the community, and of public trust in waqf. The limited understanding of waqf is the cause of the lack of facilities to increase the economic growth of Muslims both in Indonesia and globally.

The awareness of the Muslim community in Indonesia continues to grow and cannot be avoided to realize the welfare of the people. Based on data from the division of the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance (KNEKS) and the World Giving Index (2019), Indonesia is one of the most generous countries. This is indicated by the high potential of waqf, including cash and land waqf, which reaches a potential of Rp 2000 trillion per year. Currently, there are only 52 thousand hectares of land that are waqfed in 390,000 points.

The problem of waqf in Indonesia is related not only to public perception of waqf or the lack of support from the government, but also to the lack of public trust in waqf institutions, the professionalism of waqf managers/nazir (Huda et al., 2017), and the absence of integrated data related to waqf, which shows the development of waqf performance in Indonesia. Thus, it is necessary to measure the performance of waqf as a means to increase awareness of waqf management and as a tool to monitor the development of waqf (Siraj, 2012; Khalil, Ali and Shaiban, 2014; Siswantoro, Rosdiana and Fathurahman, 2017).

The existence of the National Waqf Index (NWI), which was launched in 2020 as a standardized measurement tool, can be a reference for national waqf performance. The results obtained from the calculation of the waqf index can be used to compare the measurement results of each region from time to time in order to prepare long-term plans in waqf management in Indonesia. The existence of a standardized and acceptable waqf index measurement at the state level can also be a tool for waqf authorities to evaluate and monitor the overall condition of waqf activities in a country and improve the recording of waqf assets (Zain, Mahadi and Noor, 2019), as well as to reflect the transparency and accountability of waqf managers as a whole in a country (Noordin, Haron and Kassim, 2017). In the preparation of the National Waqf Index, the completeness of the index is very important and must meet various aspects such as aspects of waqf management, support systems, and the impact of waqf on the community, in addition to aspects of achieving the development agenda. This is necessary because the state-level waqf performance index can be a benchmark for all mutawalli to comply with for the advancement of waqf management and become a medium for informing the public about how waqf has been successful for the community and for the extent to which the potential of waqf has been utilized, which in turn will increase community awareness about waqf so that waqf development agenda can be fulfilled.

This study aims to measure the national waqf index (NWI) at the provincial and regional levels in Indonesia.

Download: Report National Waqf Index 2021