Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
 

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. All praises is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds - The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, Sovereign of the Day of Recompose. It is You we worship and You we ask for help. Guide us to the straight path - the path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked (Your) anger or of those who are astray. Ameen.

Ahmad Dawjee Dadabhoy was born in the year 1907 in Gujaret, India. After travelling the world, in 1940 he chose to come to Tanah Melayu and stayed in Kuala Lumpur. He’s fluent in multiple languages and love reading and knowledge and have a lot of friends and contacts around the world. At the time, he’s already a rich businessman and a successful tycoon. Early on, he has been giving away his money to charities and through the wakaf institution. Initially, the institution is more of a family wakaf but then changed and named Alwaqful Islami ul Alamee.

At the end of his life, he gave nearly all of his properties which includes 1.2 hectare of land in Jalan Perak, Kuala Lumpur through wakaf. On 24th January 1987, he passed away. Before his passing, he had stated his wish to donate some more of his properties and funds to the Islamic enforcement authorities.

On 18th September 1991, Kuala Lumpur High court ruled that Islamic Religious Council Kuala Lumpur (MAIWP) as the trustee since he didn’t leave any heirs to fulfil his wishes.

Wilayah Persekutuan ruling that was issued states:

“Ahmad Dawjee Dadabhoy has form a wakaf his properties on Islamic side. This is based on his words that is written in The Letter of Declaration of Wakaf and his written acknowledgement witnessed by Syed Mustapha Bin Syed Wazir.”

Allahyarham’s willingness to donate his million-ringgit estate enable it to be developed and ultimately giving great returns to the Islamic community. The value of his estate before any development was done is estimated to be RM34 million and after its development the value jumped to more than RM151 million.

MAIWP as its legal trustee has done an excellent job in carrying out the responsibilities of developing the wakaf estate and in turn become a pioneer in the development of wakaf estate for the purpose of commercial use in Malaysia. As a result, with the cooperation between MAIWP, Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) and Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad (BIMB), the estate is successfully developed. In this smart partnership, LTH acts as the developer offering 100% financing for the development of the MAIWP land and BIMB as the pioneer of Islamic banking in Malaysia as its main tenant. TH properties play the role of project manager. According to the “Built-Operate-Transfer” financing structure, MAIWP will get RM56.6 million in returns for the duration of the estate is being leased to LTH which is for 25 years.

Starting with the generosity of Allahyarham, now it has become a great landmark that Muslims are proud of. The returns and profits from the waqaf estate that MAIWP received will be given back for the benefit of asnaf and Muslim community as a whole. It is certainly a great deed stemmed originally from Allahyarham’s donation through waqaf.

Hopefully this story will motivate us all in doing more charity for the benefit of the Ummah and ultimately for Allah s.w.t.

Credit: https://muftiwp.gov.my/en/artikel/irsyad-fatwa/irsyad-fatwa-umum-cat/2824-irsyad-al-fatwa-series-274-wakaf-ahmad-dawjee-dadabhoy