“The Economist”: India’s Prime Minister Seeks to Seize Islamic Waqf Properties Through New Law

The Economist magazine has shed light on the efforts of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to control thousands of Islamic sites by enacting a new law.

Architecturally, there is no connection between the Parliament Street Mosque in Delhi and the 27-story mansion in Mumbai, home to Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest person.

The mosque, built in Mughal style, has been a place of Islamic worship for nearly 300 years. Ambani’s mansion, touted as “a prototype for future buildings,” houses his family, along with 600 staff members, a garage that accommodates 168 cars, and a room that spews artificial snowflakes from its walls.

What connects them, however, is a longstanding dispute over Waqf properties in India, according to the Economist report, translated by Arabi21.

The term “Waqf” typically refers to land or buildings donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes, often including mosques or cemeteries. While Waqf properties are spread across the Islamic world, India holds more than any other country, with approximately 872,000 properties valued at $14 billion.

This makes the Waqf Boards collectively the third-largest landowner in India, after the military and Indian Railways, the report indicates.

The magazine highlighted that many of these properties may soon fall under the control of the Indian government if a new law, expected to pass in April, is enacted. The Indian government claims that the proposed law improves upon old legislation that allowed widespread mismanagement of Waqf properties.

Prime Minister Modi accuses the opposition Congress Party of granting excessive autonomy to the Waqf Boards “to appease” Muslim voters. Proponents of the law also point out that many Waqf properties (such as the land on which Ambani’s mansion is built) were sold to private owners.

Opponents view the bill as a massive land grab, marking the latest blow in Modi’s campaign to promote his Hindu nationalist ideology. The law would allow the government to seize thousands of Waqf properties that it already uses, having partially or fully occupied them, and revoke the “Waqf user designation” for many older sites that lack documentary evidence of their status.

The affected properties could include prominent national landmarks. In 2005, an attempt to register the Taj Mahal, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in the 17th century, as Waqf property was blocked by the Supreme Court, which demanded proof of the emperor’s signature on the title deed. However, the Archaeological Survey of India, which oversees the monument, states that 256 other properties it manages are Waqf properties, complicating its work.

The report quoted Asaduddin Owaisi, a Muslim Member of Parliament, who said: “This law has nothing to do with protecting Waqf properties or increasing their revenue. It was enacted with the aim of seizing Muslim properties and imposing greater government control over them.”

Syed Sadatullah Husaini, President of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, one of India’s largest Islamic social organizations, expressed concerns that the law could also lead to the destruction of many of these properties.

Independent scholars and some Muslims acknowledge that Waqf Boards need reform, including more representation for Shia, Sufi, and other sects to make the management more transparent and protect the interests of widows. However, advocates of such limited reforms argue that the new law imposes burdens that Hindu and other religious Waqfs do not face, and was passed without proper consultation with Muslim community leaders.

Critics believe this law represents a new front in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s efforts to erode Muslim rights in India. Since Modi’s rise to power in 2014, the government has granted expedited citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from neighboring countries, stripped the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir of its autonomy, and vowed to abolish Muslim family law provisions. In January 2024, Modi inaugurated a Hindu temple in Ayodhya on the site of an old mosque destroyed by Hindu nationalists in 1992.

According to the report, it seemed that Modi had changed tactics after his party lost its absolute majority in the 2024 general elections, which revealed that voters were more concerned about economic issues. He softened his anti-Muslim rhetoric. The leadership of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist organization from which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) originates, issued a rare warning in December against Hindu groups stirring new controversy over disputed sites like Ayodhya.

Caution was also evident in Modi’s referral of the Waqf bill to a joint parliamentary committee in August. During his first two terms in office, Modi used the BJP’s majority to pass legislation through Parliament, but now he needs support from coalition partners.

Recently, signs have emerged that Modi has become more assertive again, following victories for the BJP in elections in Haryana, Maharashtra, and Delhi. Some Indian Muslims also fear that the return of Donald Trump to the White House could embolden Modi, given Trump’s reluctance to criticize leaders on human rights issues.

In a report presented to Parliament on February 13, the committee reviewing the Waqf bill accepted some suggestions from BJP allies but rejected all opposition proposals. Hindu nationalists have also flooded the Supreme Court with petitions against a law that maintains the religious identity of sites as they were at the time of India’s independence in 1947. On February 17, the government missed a second deadline to respond to those petitions. Many Hindu nationalists saw this as a sign of support.

In parts of India, BJP leaders are using the Waqf bill to rally party followers. Yogi Adityanath, the BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, has been particularly critical of the Waqf Boards.

Adityanath, a potential successor to Modi, said in January that his government was reviewing records to verify properties that had been incorrectly classified as Waqf. He added, “We will reclaim every inch of this land.”

The report noted that this issue is likely to be controversial in Uttar Pradesh, which has more than 232,000 Waqf properties—more than any other state. It is also a sensitive issue in Delhi, where government agencies have occupied many Waqf properties. In 2023, the government announced plans to seize 123 of these properties, including the Parliament Street Mosque, which has been used by Muslim lawmakers since 1947.

The magazine pointed out that Mumbai is another controversial area due to its high concentration of Waqf properties, explaining that Ambani’s mansion was built on land donated to a trust in 1894 to establish an Islamic orphanage, and the trust sold the land in 2002 to a company controlled by Ambani.

Ambani’s company, which purchased the land, claims it received all necessary approvals, including from the Waqf Board. However, the local Waqf Board challenged the sale in court (unsuccessfully).

Legal experts say that such challenges are unlikely to succeed if the Waqf law is passed. They expect more battles over Waqf properties in the coming years. Some Indian Muslims are concerned that if their religious sites are seized, it could lead to unrest. However, many are resigned and preparing for the next blow, according to the report.