| Positive impact of Islamic waqf on development discussed in Kuwait |
| | Mon, 20 Feb 2012 |
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KUWAIT: Kuwait hosted on Monday international Waqf authority representatives in the two-day 18th Waqf Forum, which discusses the social and economic imprints left by the Islamic charitable donation of assets. The forum, Waqf and Technology ... Towards New Horizons, is being held under the patronage of His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. In his keynote speech at the event, Kuwaiti Justice Minister and Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Jamal Al-Shihab said that the country's Awqaf Public Foundation has taken upon itself to encourage, invest and administer Waqf. The state-run trust carries out its role according to the conditions set forth by the benefactor, known as the Waqf, and in accordance with the aims of Islamic Sharia law to lessen the burden on people in need among the society. The foundation aims to highlight Waqf as a symbol and tool for international comprehensive development, and the event is being held to shed light on the expanding and developing role in form of religious endowment has been assuming under the vision of the Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation, he said. This vision has taken on board modern technology to aid its role during modern times, also collaborating with local public and private organizations specialized in the field in order to widen the scope of beneficiaries from the Islamic world. Technological efforts Kuwait has carried out include a number of dictionaries and encyclopedias on Waqf, its history and renowned waqfs, Kuwait Awqaf Public Foundation Secretary General Abdulmohsin Al-Kharafi said, in another speech. The foundation, as a donor and relief body, has not focused seldomly on relief efforts but has extended its role to a worldwide development planner, he added. Other speakers at the meeting included Morocco's head of Awqaf, Mohammad Al-Kawari, who hailed the efforts of the Kuwait foundation, describing it as a model on the international scale.
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