Waqf Shares Returns: Types and its Ruling

Mansoor Abdurrahman Al-Ghamdi

Assistant Professor

King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia 

This paper discusses corporate dispositions relating to shares and applicability of such dispositions to waqf shares. In this context, the paper attempts to answer the following question: "In case of waqf shares, should returns on equity be treated like principal and, therefore, constitute an addition to waqf assets, or should they be considered as distributable income?

The paper includes a preface comprising a descriptive account on corporate dispositions relating to shares. It also discusses the issue of bonus shares and whether they should be treated as part of the waqf, or as an additional income to be distributed? A fleeting reference will then follow about the nature of share splitting process, and whether it adds to waqf asset or to waqf income?

The paper will then proceed to tackle priority rights in shareholding companies. Should the waqf sell such rights, or should it subscribe to them to boost its ownership share in the company? Is it permissible for the waqf superintendent to refrain from subscription to priority rights?