ABSTRACT
Waqf has enabled the building of mosques, school, hospitals, and water wells. The beginning of institutions may have been due to waqf charitable contributions until the state took a greater role and organized many of the institutions alongside profitable private entities. Furthermore, the state became more involved in the process of charitable work through the implementation of laws to guide the giving and the receiving of charitable contributions; some states have taken more control than others in relation to charitable work. In order to explore the role of charitable contributions in the development of the economy an initial consideration of a number of jurisdictions in which charitable trusts exist may be necessary. The chapter, thereupon, explores the work of waqf and how it was used in Islam to build institutions needed by society. It will initially discuss the legal framework in Qatar for charitable work and the exception of charitable trusts from the remit of the QFC Trusts Regulation 2007. Then it will explore charitable trusts in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Singapore and will deal with the legal principles relating to charitable trusts in each jurisdiction. Finally, it will explore the impact of charitable trusts in the economy and their advantages and disadvantages, with a to evaluating the impact of those charitable trusts (positive, negative or balance).
