After the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Rajya Sabha and subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court, debates have intensified around its legal and political implications. While much of the discourse has focused on property rights and governance, the Bill also affects the administration of madrassas and the broader ecosystem of education of Muslims in India.
What is the Waqf Board?
Waqf refers to a property donated in the name of God for religious or charitable purposes under Muslim law. These properties include mosques, madrassas, orphanages, shelter homes and land holdings. They are managed by state Waqf Boards and cannot be sold or transferred. By Islamic tradition, Waqf is meant for long-term, collective community welfare and is considered a permanent endowment.
As per data available on the Waqf Management System of India (WAMSI) portal, there are 8.72 lakh registered waqf properties across India, covering an area of more than 38 lakh acres. However, many remain underutilised, encroached upon, or poorly documented. The management of these assets has long been criticised for inefficiency, lack of transparency, and bureaucratic delays.
What is the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025?
The Central government has positioned the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which would be renamed the Unified Waqf Management Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Bill, as a reformative step to introduce greater transparency, accountability, and efficiency in the management of waqf properties. “We have not done this for any personal gain….Bill is mainly about property management and governance,” said Kiren Rijiju, Minister of Minority Affairs, while he tabled the Bill in the Lower House. According to the Minister, the amendments are purely “administrative in nature” and “necessary to prevent misuse, encroachment, and prolonged litigation related to waqf assets and is administrative in nature, not religious.”
“The role of Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council (CWC) is not religious but regulatory, ensuring legal compliance and safeguarding public interest. By introducing checks and balances, empowering stakeholders, and improving governance, the Bill sets a progressive and fair framework for Waqf administration in India,” according to the official ‘Benefits of the Bill’ release.
The Bill introduces several key changes aimed at streamlining the management of Waqf properties. It mandates the centralised digital registration of all Waqf assets within six months and shifts the authority to resolve ownership disputes from Waqf Tribunals to government officials, allows non-Muslims to be appointed as CEOs or board members of Waqf Boards, and curtails the Boards’ powers to unilaterally declare properties as Waqf.
Properties lacking documentation will no longer be automatically considered Waqf, and annual audits have been made mandatory. The Bill also promises improved stakeholder representation, including the inclusion of women and professionals, and introduces provisions to safeguard women’s inheritance rights. The Bill seeks to address over 21,000 pending cases of encroachment and property-related litigation.
The education aspect of the Bill
Waqf has historically played a key role in the educational development for Muslims, especially through funding madrassas, schools, and colleges as it supports long-term educational, medical, and community development. It is seen as the second-most important institution in Islam for social welfare, after Zakat (immediate individual needs).
Historically, institutions such as Madrasa Ghaziuddin Khan, Delhi (now Zakir Hussain College), Aliah University, and some parts of the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh were built and sustained through Waqf endowments. Post-independence, bodies such as the Central Waqf Council (CWC) and state Waqf Boards have continued this legacy.
Madrassas have seen major changes in functioning in the last few years, with English language training and Computer literacy being taught as a priority. This is intended to help bridge the gap between formal secular education given by mainstream institutions and religious/Islamic centers of learning. Presently there are about 38,000 thousand madrassas, with around 28,107 recognised and some 10,039 unrecognised.
The Bill has raised alarm within the Muslim community and has raised fears that it will undermining this educational ecosystem. Prof. Abdul Matin, Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University who specialises in research on South Asian Islam and Muslim Communities noted, “Principally, it is not wrong to include a non-Muslim member, but it has the potential to create on-ground tensions within the minority community.” This trust deficit between the government and the largest minority, who’ll be affected by the Bill, has to be cleared by the government by taking the community’s leadership into cognizance as religious issues are deemed sensitive, he adds.
Prof. Matin talked about the minimal participation of the country’s largest minority in the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the centre’s dispensation. He added this is evident in the composition of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), as well as the significant budget cuts in key educational initiatives, including pre-matric and post-matric scholarships, research funding, and the Maulana Azad National Fellowship. Looking at the data and statistics, he said the claims of active minority representation, participation and the apparent welfare seems ill-founded.
Madrassas have often attracted students from poorer families because of the less fees they charge. Prof. Nafees Ahmad Ansari from the AMU’s Political Science department noted that with the modernisation of madrassas, the syllabus of mainstream education Boards is making its way into the curriculum of almost all the madrassas. If their resources are reduced or inconsistent, millions of students in these madrassas will suffer. But if the Bill is implemented in the purported manner in terms of surveys of the land records, accounting and auditing, then it has the potential to benefit the education of Muslim students.
The Bill shifts key decision-making powers such as dispute resolution and Wqf status declarations, from the Waqf Boards to government officials. This could directly impact the management and funding autonomy of madrassas and other educational institutions operating on Waqf lands. The inclusion of non-Muslims as Waqf Board CEOs and members has also drawn concern over the erosion of community control in sensitive areas such as curriculum, religious instruction, and institutional governance.
A number of endowments for educational institutions have been created in different States for secular education, so if the income of the Waqf goes down, it’ll hamper the educational institutions, Prof Nafees says while being optimistic about the effective implementation of the Bill as proposed.
Challenges in Waqf-based education funding
Corruption and mismanagement: As Prof. Muhammad Sajjad of AMU’s History Department notes, corruption, weak implementation, and state apathy have gradually crippled Waqf-based educational support. With over 21,000 Waqf-related cases pending in courts and continued delays in property digitisation, the educational potential of Waqf remains stunted. Unless addressed holistically, the Bill’s provisions risk further limiting access to community-led, Waqf-supported education for Muslims, say experts.
Budget cuts in key schemes: Programmes such as the Quami Waqf Board Taraqqiati Scheme (QWBTS) meant to modernise Waqf Boards and the Shahari Waqf Sampatti Vikas Yojana (SWSVY) aimed at monetising urban Waqf assets have both seen sharp budget cuts. As per official data, this has limited financial assistance to educational institutions in recent years.
The Scheme for Providing Education in Madrassas/Minorities (SPEMM) was one of the initiatives attempting to integrate modern subjects such as Science and Mathematics into Madrassa education. However, the scheme lost central funding after 2021–22, dropping to zero in 2024-25, forcing many madrassas to scale back or abandon modernisation efforts.
The jury is out
So will the Bill indeed give a boost to education of Muslims? “We will have to wait and watch. Only the implementation will clear the air.,” said Prof. Matin.
Published – April 05, 2025 09:09 pm IST