Safeguard rights of Muslims in Waqf, SC urged

A day after the Supreme Court’s stay on some provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act-2025, Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), the largest conglomerate of religious organisations in J-K, on Tuesday said “the wider constitutional and religious concerns raised by this Act remain unaddressed, leaving the community anxious and dissatisfied.”

The group headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, while commenting on the interim order of the Supreme Court on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, on Tuesday issued a statement about the matter. The MMU stressed that Waqf “is not merely about property but about religious trust and service to Allah.”

“Any attempt to dilute Muslim control over these sacred endowments or to erode their historic protection is unacceptable to the community and is against the principles enshrined in the Constitution, which grants every religious denomination the right to manage its own religious affairs,” the group said.

It said the “court has provided interim partial interim which is a good indication, but they do not go far enough.”

“Many provisions of the Act remain a cause for grave concern. The abolition of the long-recognised principle of “Waqf by user” threatens centuries-old mosques, shrines, graveyards and community institutions that have functioned as Waqf based on continuous use, even without deeds,” the MMU said.

It added the “mandatory requirement of a Waqf deed disregards historical realities where documents were lost or never existed, and risks stripping these properties of their sacred status.”

“The transfer of survey powers from independent commissioners to district collectors compromises neutrality and gives the state excessive control over religious trusts,” the statement noted.

The MMU said it “believes the amendment as a whole is a deliberate move to weaken and seize Waqf properties rather than to protect them.”

The MMU demands that the Supreme Court urgently take up the “matter for final hearing and safeguard the constitutional and religious rights of Muslims.”

“The Act in its present form is of concern and the original protections of the Waqf Act be should be restored,” the leaders said.

“The government must desist from undermining the sanctity of Waqf and instead work to preserve, protect and develop these endowments for the social and religious welfare of future generations,” it added.