ABSTRACT
Considering the damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to the socio-economic development of the ummah, replicating or adapting the Al Rajhi waqf model in Muslim countries would certainly reduce poverty to the barest minimum. The holding company of Al Rajhi has four centres, financial and real estate investment, food and agricultural investment, industrial investment, and educational and technological investment. This chapter explains the essential features of the model in order to induce Muslim philanthropists to adapt or replicate it in various Islamic countries worldwide. It presents the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on society. The chapter describes the historical and contemporary contributions of waqf to the socio-economic development of society. In the contemporary Muslim world, a new form of waqf known as cash has been introduced and formalized for socio-economic development and poverty alleviation. The fact is that in the contemporary Muslim world, only Al Rahji was found to have practised this kind of generosity.
