Beyond Management Challenges: A Demise of a Cash Waqf Foundation

This study investigates how management challenges have caused the demise of the Ahlussunnah Wal-Jamaah Waqf Foundation (ASWAJWF) in Ghana using human resource theory and the behavioral theory of leadership. Interviews were conducted with 24 participants who were directly involved in the collection of cash waqf and the management of ASWAJWF in ten of the 16 regions of Ghana. The findings attributed ASWAJWF’s demise to leaders’ misunderstanding of waqf as a typical sadaqah, lack of investment initiatives to sustain the fund due to managerial incompetence, and failure to consult and heed voluntary expert advice. This is the first study to examine Ghana's waqf management challenges. It is also the first waqf study to use theories of demise to explain how management challenges caused a waqf institution to ‘die’. Its exploratory nature ignites and invites other researchers to examine the reasons for the demise/closure of cash waqf institutions, thus serving as a reference for researchers. Finally, we expect this study to draw the attention of cash waqf stakeholders, including policymakers, to the need to provide effective management and governance frameworks/tools to revive cash waqf and to safeguard the interests of donors, beneficiaries, and the public at large.